Of Love and Life
by TitansRule
Summary: Sequel to 'All's Fair in Love and War'. With a new alliance between the X-Men and the Brotherhood, one might expect peace, but the team faces new team-mates, new enemies and new challenges, not least their own crazy families.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution.**

**This is the sequel to 'All's Fair in Love and War', so if you haven't read that, I strongly suggest you find that and read it first, or none of this will make sense. Also, I've taken a few liberties as to where Bayville is in New York, mainly because it's a fictional place.**

**This is rated T, but some scenes/themes later on may push at the boundaries, so please take note of the warnings at the tops of those chapters and use your own discretion.**

* * *

Prologue

**November 1999**

Everyone – aside from very young children – knows where the USA is. It's a large country in the Pacific and has a huge effect on the world's economy.

Most people know where New York City is. It's in the north east of the USA, part of the larger state of New York, which borders New Jersey and Connecticut.

Very few people, however, know where Bayville is. Bayville is a small town on the southern-eastern coast of Queens, one of New York City's five boroughs.

In many ways, it is just like any other small town in the US; there are schools, malls, parks, theatres and suburbs.

What distinguishes this town from any other is located through the larger of the two parks, through the dark, thick trees, which hide a long dirt track that runs past a wasteland of rubble and brick, arriving at a large manor house with a sweeping drive that is home to a group of teenagers and their guardians.

Now that in itself is not unusual as the house doubles as a private school of sorts.

However, only two of the inhabitants are human.

As for the rest …

They are mutant.

They are heroes.

They are the X-Men.

* * *

One cold day at the end of November, the snow came. Bayville awoke to a swirling blizzard that provoked conflicting responses.

By mid-afternoon, the snow had settled into a soft flurry of large white flakes. Adults hurried through the streets of Bayville, laden with bags and boxes, to preoccupied with finishing their shopping to stop and chat with one another.

Many of them, of course, were held up by children, who hung back, throwing snowballs at each other, building snowmen and making snow angels, making the most of this unexpected day off.

Dogs bounded through the places where the snow had cumulated into mounds, while cats sprung from fence to fence to avoid getting their feet wet, staring disdainfully down at their fellow creatures.

Amidst the chaos, a young woman was making her way through the snow, a few strands of long blonde hair escaping from where it had been pinned up under a hat. Clear blue eyes took in every detail of her surroundings as she tried to get her bearings.

Finally conceding defeat, she slipped into a coffee shop, shaking the snow from her clothes. The warmth from the heating hit her and she sighed with relief, deciding to take the time to have a cup of coffee before continuing on her way. Getting directions from the barista as she paid, she sat in the window, savouring the hot drink while she could.

After fifteen minutes of people-watching, she was left with only dregs and left her warm sanctuary to once again step out into the biting cold.

Following the directions, she made her way to the end of the street again, but this time, rather than stopping, she continued through the dense trees. The snow was lighter here, but light was dimmer and she had to slow down anyway to avoid running in to anything.

Finally, the trees thinned and she stepped out onto a rough dirt track. Turning right, she sped up, although kept her pace to a walk so as not to fall foul of the iced-over potholes that barred her way.

Eventually her way was barred by an immense set of gates equipped with an impressive security system, behind which lay a long sweeping driveway.

Eyeing the cameras warily, she reached out and pressed the intercom button.

After a nerve-wracking few minutes, the radio crackled and a slightly-accented male voice floated out to her. _"Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters; how can I help?"_

"Er, hi. I need to talk to Professor Xavier. I have a gift and I need help."

"_Is he expecting you?"_

She groaned. "No, sorry. I haven't really had an opportunity to get to a phone."

"_Don't worry about it. He's not here right now, but why don't you come in? It's freezing out there."  
_

With a loud beep, the gates began to swing open slowly and she slipped through them. Giving up on the slippery ground, the girl rose into the air and flew the rest of the way to the house.

The front door opened to reveal a young man her age with dark hair, dark eyes and tanned skin, and when he greeted her, it was obvious he was who she had spoken to through the intercom. "Hey, how you doin'? You're a flier, huh?"

"Flying, super-strength, telepathy and invulnerability." She confirmed, landing beside him.

He stuck out his hand. "I'm Roberto DaCosta; everyone just calls me Robbie."

"Nice to meet you." She shook his hand firmly. "I'm Carole. Carole Danvers."

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**AN: Like 'All's Fair', this is a somewhat revised version, so the first 14 chapters or so should be up fairly quickly, because I just have to tweak them. After that, however, is anyone's guess, so wish me luck!**


	2. Chapter One: Welcome

**Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution.**

**I'm really sorry this is moving so slowly; I don't know what happened. I'd just like to state now that I don't read the comics, so any characters you recognise from the comics are going to be different, either in powers, personality or story-line.**

* * *

Chapter One – Welcome

**November 1999**

"Alex? Alex? Alex? Alex?" Lorna sighed, giving up, and balled up the sheet of paper in her hand, lobbing it at her best friend's head. "Hey, Sharkbait!"

Alex looked up. "Yeah?"

Lorna raised an eyebrow. "Wow, you're distracted. You hate that name. What are you doing?"

Alex absently scratched the back of his neck with his pen, leaving an ink mark. "I'm trying to figure out how to change my name from Alex Masters back to Alex Summers."

With an exasperated sigh, Lorna grabbed a cloth and rubbed the ink off, reading the form over his shoulder. "Alex, that looks fine. What's the problem?"

"I feel kinda guilty." Alex admitted. "I mean, my foster parents took me in and put up with all the hell I put them through and … doesn't feel right, just writing them off."

"Then why don't you change it to Alex Masters-Summers?" Lorna suggested.

Alex brightened. "Why didn't I think of that? Thanks, Lor!" He grabbed his pen again, but paused, staring over her shoulder. "Sam, what are you doing?"

Lorna followed his gaze to see Sam furiously scribbling on another sheet of paper, surrounded by Todd, Fred, Jamie, Evan, Lucie, Tabby, Rahne, Warren and Taryn, all of whom occasionally shouted a seemingly random name. "Yeah, Sam, what _are_ you doing?"

"Writing my Christmas list." Sam answered briefly.

"William." Jamie said.

Sam shook his head. "Got him."

Lorna and Alex exchanged a confused glance and the latter shrugged, leaving the questioning up to his best friend.

"Isn't it a little early to start your Christmas list?" Lorna asked.

"Well, I'm not _entirely_ sure how many siblings I've got." Sam admitted.

"Okay," Warren sighed, "let's go through them. Paige, Will, Lizzie, two Stevens …"

"Three." Sam corrected. "No, wait … maybe it is two."

"What in God's name …?" Another voice asked.

"Hey, Robbie." Sam greeted without looking up. "Do you know how many brothers are called Steven?"

"Four." Robbie answered immediately.

Sam frowned at his list. "Are you sure?"

"We've shared a room for three years." Robbie reminded him. "One's a footballer, one's into street-dancing, one answers the phone with weird messages and the fourth is like Jamie on sugar laced with crack."

"Oh yeah!" Sam nodded with a grin. "Thanks."

For her own sanity, Lorna decided to take herself out of the conversation. Remembering the intercom ringing, she glanced up to ask Robbie who it had been, but her question was answered before she could voice it.

Standing a little behind Roberto was a young blonde woman about her age, who was watching the interaction with a mixture of apprehension and amusement.

Remembering how unnerving her it was for her, even with Lexa, Alex and Warren joining at the same time, Lorna jumped to her feet. "Hi!"

"Lorna, this is Carole Danvers." Robbie said, seeing they had her attention. "Carole, Lorna Dane, aka Polaris, second-in-command of X-Force."

As always, the statement threw Lorna off-guard. She was one of the leaders of the X-Men.

Granted, it was a new team, but her opinions were listened to. It always amazed her how a group of teenagers, so against authority most of the time, formed themselves into an unwritten hierarchy in the Danger Room and on the battlefield. She had been surprised that Alex had chosen her as his second, but then maybe she shouldn't have been; they were best friends and she knew him better than she knew herself. What had really surprised her was that Lexa had stepped back and let her explain the problem they had both seen.

"It's nice to meet you, Carole." Lorna gave her a quick hug and turned back to the other students.

Rather predictably, they were completely oblivious to the by-play and were now discussing how many of Sam's siblings were girls. Sighing irritably, she lifted her hand and sent a metallic shockwave through the room. "Hey!"

The jolt knocked several people off balance, including Alex, who had to pick himself up off the floor. "Lorna, what was that for?"

Lorna shrugged. "Look, if I was Kitty or Lexa, I would've whistled, but I can't do that; I had to get your attention somehow. Everyone, this is Carole Danvers. Carole, this is everyone; this is Sam. That's Lucie and Tabby. That's Rahne, with the red hair. The sickeningly sweet couple in the armchair – get a room, guys – that's Warren and Taryn. Todd, Fred, Evan … and the little one's Jamie. And this," she clapped a hand on Alex's shoulder, ignoring Jamie's protest, "is Alex, aka Havoc, the leader of X-Force."

"The one person she has to listen to." Alex joked, shaking her hand. "Welcome. Lorna, could you sort out a guest room; Jamie, try to find Miss Munroe or Mr. Logan, tell them we have a visitor; everyone else … see if you can find out how many damn sisters Sam has!"

Lorna rolled her eyes and lopped her arm through Carole's. "Come on, hun; I'll show you around. What brings you here?"

"Well, my parents were killed in a car accident when I was five." Carole answered slowly, but with no sense of reluctance. "And I went to live with my mother's sister. I started noticing that I never got as many scrapes and bruises as my friends and realised I was pretty much invulnerable. As time went by, I got stronger and stronger and … well, there was an incident with a truck and a mud-pit. My aunt could deal with all that, even when I started reading her mind accidentally. She could make excuses for all that stuff, you see. Then the flying started and she told me to get out."

"That sucks." Lorna squeezed her arm. "So you came here?"

"Yeah, I heard about it on the news." Carole explained. "Seemed as good a place as any."

"You sound like you're from down South." Lorna commented. "Where'd you grow up?"

"Tennessee." Carole answered, slightly dreamily. "I miss it, really. What about you?"

"I was raised in a children's home in Connecticut." Lorna told her. "Left on the doorstep as a child. I know nothing about my mother and only as much about my father as the X-Men can tell me. Eric Maximoff-Lehnsherr." She elaborated, almost spitting the words out. "Magneto. I doubt he even knows I exist, but … You ever heard of him?"

"I think I might have heard his name mentioned somewhere." Carole frowned. "Wasn't he one of the possessed horsemen last year, or whatever they were called?"

"Yeah, that's him." Lorna sighed. "Listen to me; I've gotten all depressing. Right, back to here. There are three teams in the X-Men; if you stay, you'll be joining X-Force and training with us. X-Factor were the original team, the New Mutants were the first batch of new recruits and X-Force … well, we're whoever's left basically. Except the babies, of course."

Carole's face lit up with a smile. "Babies?"

"Yup, Generation X has five members at the moment." Lorna confirmed. "Typically, mutation doesn't reveal itself until puberty, or at least a period of heightened emotional stress, but apparently, it's a lot earlier if both parents are mutant. Lorelai is thirteen months old; Monica and Joey are eleven months old; Cindy is four months and Liam's two months." She paused and counted up. "Oh, and Amara's due in December; keep forgetting her, she's only known for like two months."

"How do you not notice for that long?" Carole asked curiously.

Lorna shrugged. "She hasn't had any symptoms. Just a few cramps over the summer." She laughed. "I'm not doing too well with the tour, am I? Okay, we've just come from the rec room; the living room's directly opposite it. That door there is the kitchen, which is a lovely room, but you never see much of it when it's being used – you'll see what I mean tomorrow morning. That door's actually an elevator that leads to the lower levels, but I won't overwhelm you by explaining that just yet …"

"We're home!"

The call echoed both out loud and in Lorna's head and she spun around on the bottom stair too see that Kitty had just closed the front door behind her and Lance, Liam wrapped up in a snowsuit and blanket in his father's arms.

"Hey. Cold out there?"

"Freezing. Hey, Lorna." Kitty greeted, hanging up her jacket and taking the baby so Lance could do the same.

Seeing the inquisitive gleam in her team-mate's eye, Lorna gestured to the newcomer. "Oh, this is Carole Danvers. Carole, this is Lance Alvers and Kitty Pryde, and their son, Liam."

"Nice to meet you." Kitty tilted her head. "If you're showing her to a spare room, Lor, I'd go via the other staircase; apparently, Bobby's left a bit of an ice slide in the East Wing."

"Is that our idea of 'a bit of an ice slide' or Bobby's?" Lorna asked knowingly.

"What's the difference?" Carole wanted to know.

Kitty laughed. "Well, what Bobby would call 'a bit of an ice slide' is what the rest of us would consider a frozen river. No idea though, Lorna. It was Bobby who told us, but Jubilee was standing next to him and didn't argue."

"But Jubilee's got a strange sense of humour." Lance pointed out. "So that doesn't mean much."

"True." Kitty conceded. "I'd go the other way just in case."

"Good idea." Lorna agreed. "This way then."

As the two girls disappeared down the hallway towards the back staircase, Kitty's smile faded into a soft frown.

"Oh dear." Lance murmured.

Oh dear what?" Kitty asked, unbuttoning Liam's snowsuit.

"I know that look, Kitten." Lance told her. "What don't you like about her?"

"I don't know." Kitty admitted. "There's just something about her that I … not dislike necessarily, but there's something …"

"Sweetheart, you need more sleep." Lance kissed her forehead as she trailed off. "I like to think that I can read people as well as you can and I didn't pick up anything."

"Yeah, but you also trusted Mystique when you first met her." Kitty pointed out.

"Oh, low blow!" Lance poked her side lightly as she took Liam back, causing her to giggle softly. "It's probably just a residual feeling from the whole 'HYDRA' fiasco." His arm settled protectively around her waist and pulled her closer.

Kitty smiled. "Yeah, you're probably right."

But even as they carried on to the rec room, she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something about Miss Carole Danvers that she just didn't trust.

**

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AN: What do you think? Is Kitty being paranoid? Or is Lance dismissing her too quickly? Review please!**


	3. Chapter Two: Arrival

**Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution.**

**Sorry for the delay, but uni work and computer problems don't leave me with a lot of time.**

* * *

Chapter Two – Arrivals

**November 1999**

Kitty was speechless.

There weren't really many things that could make her speechless, but this was one of them.

The X-Men as a whole were rarely what one would call quiet. However, due to the thickness of the walls, the hallways of the Institute were generally quite peaceful, except for a low murmur of what promised to be a lot of noise when you reached it.

The epicentre of this noise changed depending on what time of day it was and what day of the week it was.

Between seven and nine in the morning, it was the kitchen, unless it was a Saturday, in which case no one was of any use until after eleven o'clock and several mugs of coffee.

Early evening, it was the living room, especially on Saturdays, when the students would gather for a movie night.

During the rest of the day, during the winter, it was the rec room.

And so it was with great shock that Kitty found the majority of the noise at two o'clock in the afternoon in the kitchen. In fact, she'd never even seen this much activity in the mornings.

Finally, she managed to find her voice, however weak that voice may have been. "What the hell is going on?"

"Well, since we've got so much grill food in the pantry, we thought we'd have a party." Jean explained, shoving a basket of bread rolls into Kitty's arms as she passed.

"Oh, you need any help?" Kitty asked.

"NO!"

"It's nothing personal, Kitty." Jean assured her, hastily adding to the collective shout. "It's just that … well … you and kitchens don't exactly work well together."

Kitty sighed. "I'd be insulted if that wasn't true. Is there anything I can do that doesn't involve cooking?"

"Well, you could set the Danger Room up." Jean suggested.

Kitty did a double-take, pausing in the act of floating the rolls into the dining room. "We're eating in the Danger Room?"

"Well, Bayville might notice if the weather suddenly changes from snow to sun and it's too cold to eat outside." Jean pointed out. "So we decided to use a simulation instead."

"Oh, good idea." Kitty commented. "I'll go sort that out."

"I'll come with you." Carole offered. "I'm not the best cook either."

"You're better than me then." Kitty joked. "When the mansion blew up, the only thing that survived was the crack in the floor caused by Kurt dropping one of my muffins." As she let the door swing shut behind her, she heard Bobby curse at letting her beat him to it. "Did Lorna show you the lower levels?"

"No." Carole shook her head. "And, I must admit, I'm a little intrigued."

Kitty chuckled, calling the elevator, the bread rolls tucked under her arm. "Yeah, most people are." As the doors closed on them, she couldn't help but feel uneasy.

As though reading her mind, Carole sighed. "You don't like me, do you?"

Kitty started. "Why would you say that?" She knew it was a stupid question, but decided she should at least try to keep up appearances.

Carole shrugged. "You just seem a little cold towards me; that's all."

Kitty smiled tightly, giving up the charade. "It's not that I don't like you, Carole. But my instincts are never wrong and they're telling me that you're hiding something. Now I'll be the first to admit that I've been a little paranoid since Liam was born, so it's probably something small and inconsequential. But if that secret does anything to hurt anyone in this team, you will have me to answer to."

Carole nodded hastily. "I know." Her voice wavered ever so slightly. "But I'm not going to do anything like that."

Kitty's smile became more genuine. "Then we'll be fine. Like I said, I'm probably paranoid." The elevator doors opened and she led the way down the corridor. "The infirmary and Bella's apartment is that way," she jerked her head back in the direction they'd just come from, "and everything else is this way. That's the gym. That's the mainframe; Cerebro's in the next room …"

"What is Cerebro?" Carole asked curiously. "I keep hearing about it …"

"Cerebro is a computer created by Professor Xavier." Kitty explained. "It's powered by telepathy and picks up the mental signatures of mutants across the world. Not everyone we contact joins the Institute though."

"Is there a reason why I was never contacted?" Carole asked curiously.

"Well …" Kitty shrugged. "There could be any number of reasons. It could be that your aunt – it was your aunt, right?"

Carole nodded.

"It could be that we did contact her and she turned down our assistance. It could be that your powers were too weak to show up to start with and Cerebro picked you up while we were dealing with Apocalypse or the big reveal in '96 …" Kitty trailed off. "We're not infallible, unfortunately. Anyway, the Danger Room is in here, but we want the control room for now."

She pressed a button in the wall and the door slid open, revealing a dark staircase. The two women made their way to the top, emerging into the bright control room.

Kitty laid a hand on the activation panel, making sure it had registered her identity, and created a new simulation, immediately setting the danger levels to zero: nothing killed the mood of a picnic quite like giant robots or lasers attacking you.

"Park or grounds." She asked aloud.

"Visitors." Carole responded.

Kitty glanced at her. "I don't think they'd appreciate that."

Carole shook her head and pointed at the surveillance monitor. "No, we've got visitors."

Sure enough the screen showed two young women standing at the gates, eyeing the intercom warily.

"So we do." Kitty watched them hesitate for a few minutes, before pressing the button on the control panel that would turn on the intercom. "Welcome to the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. Can I help you?"

"_We managed to meet outside and we've both got mutant powers." _A female voice stated confidently. _"And it's cold."_

"Come in." Kitty told them, pressing the button to open the gates. She quickly finished the simulation, settling on a park. "Do me a favour and tell the others."

"Sure." Carole agreed, as Kitty teleported out to the front driveway.

As she hurried towards the gates, Kitty threw a glance over her shoulder. Despite their rather candid conversation, she still felt no better.

_There's something not right about that girl._

Shaking it off for the time being, Kitty plastered a bright smile on her face and waved to the two visitors, mentally assessing them as she did.

The first girl was several years younger than Kitty, and seemed more apprehensive than scared, even if it still showed in her expression. She had wavy blonde hair and blue eyes, and there was something familiar about her, although Kitty couldn't put her finger on what.

The second girl was redhead with a bright smile, but her confidence seemed almost manufactured, a bit like Ray and Tabby's was, Kitty noted, as though she was used to depending on herself and no one else, and needed that extra protection from the world.

"Hi, I'm Kitty Pryde; welcome to the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters."

"Hi." The redhead held her hand out, her voice immediately confirming her as the speaker. "I'm Sarah Rushman."

Kitty shook her hand. "I've heard that name somewhere before. No, don't tell me." She closed her eyes, trying to picture the circumstances … she was sure it had something to do with Evan's power surge, while Ororo was hysterical … "Ray." She concluded. "Ray mentioned it. You were with the Morlocks, right?"

Sarah nodded. "We were best friends. And then he just disappeared on us."

Kitty gave her a sympathetic smile. "I know the feeling. What about you, sweetie?" She asked the blonde.

"I'm Paige. Paige Guthrie."

_That's why she looks so familiar._ "Of course, you're Sam's sister!" Kitty turned towards the house, stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled sharply. "Yo, Sammie-Boy, get out here!"

Despite their distance from the actual house, the piles of snow everywhere created an echo that sent her voice reverberating through the grounds.

Doors and windows flew open, heads popped out and, just as Kitty was getting ready to yell again, in her head this time (which would probably have been the smarter thing to do the first time), another cry sounded and Sam cannonballed over, barrelling into his sister and almost knocking her over.

Kitty winced on her behalf, glad that Sam had more control over his powers now, and called again, this time telepathically. _Ray, you'd best get down here as well._

A second later, another shout went up and Ray sprinted over, grabbing Sarah in a tight hug and spinning her in a circle. "Sarah! What are you doing topside?"

"Same thing you are, silly!" Sarah laughed. "Joining the X-Men. And would it have killed you to call once in a while?"

"It's nothing personal." Kitty assured her, saving Ray from the need to answer. "Men never call when they're supposed to." She shot Lance an annoyed look as he approached with Liam.

"Oh, what did I do now?" Lance groaned.

"Aww." Paige cooed from her side. "How old?"

"Two months." Kitty answered, taking her son into her arms. "Liam. Would you like to hold him?"

Paige nodded eagerly, carefully cradling the baby. "He's so cute."

Sam looked worried. "No. Put him back."

Kitty rolled her eyes. "Relax, Sam. Last I checked, motherhood's not contagious."

"What did I do?" Lance repeated.

"Nothing." Kitty smiled sweetly at him. "Just sympathising with Sarah about people who don't call and let you know they're alright."

"Still?" Lance sighed. "Are you ever gonna let that go?"

"Of course." Kitty assured him. "It's forgiven and forgotten."

"Don't listen to her." Scott hissed. "Women never let anything go."

"Oh, for heaven's sake …" Jean swatted her husband's arm. "I'm beginning to regret helping you two patch things up; now you just gang up on us!"

"We do not!" The two protested, but any further argument or disagreement was halted before it began by a sudden, bone-chilling scream echoing from the house.

"Okay, you all heard that too, right?" Paige asked nervously.

"Yeah." Sam pushed her behind him. "What was that?"

"I don't know." Lance took Liam back, soothing him as he recovered from the shock of being woken so suddenly.

"Me neither." Lexa narrowed her eyes. "But I think we're about to find out."

Sure enough, Pietro arrived in a gust of wind, looking shell-shocked and deathly white.

"What happened?" Lance demanded.

"Wanda …" Pietro answered shakily. "It broke …"

"Shit." Todd muttered, taking several hasty steps backwards. He wasn't the only one; Tabitha's face turned a greyish colour, Fred closed his eyes and Lucie seemed to wobble on her feet, grasping Todd's shoulder for support.

"What broke?" Kitty asked. "What happened?"

Pietro swallowed hard. "Well, you know how Wanda suddenly mellowed out and … and …"

"Lost her homicidal urges?" Bobby finished, seeing him lost for description.

Pietro glanced at Todd. "Well, most of them, yeah. Well, Father may have had Mastermind … mess with her memories a bit."

Before Kitty or Lexa could let rip at him, Evan jumped in. "Nah, he can't have done. We talked about it back in February; she knew …"

"No, he didn't, you know, completely rewrite her memories." Lance interrupted. "We think that's what he was trying to do, but we got there before he could. She just thinks it was a normal hospital instead of … padded walls and straight-jackets. We did try to stop him," he repeated hastily, seeing the expression on Kitty's face, "but we couldn't and she was so much calmer afterwards …"

"Was this before or after we cleaned Pietro's head out?" Jean asked calmly.

"Before." Lance sighed.

"Look, this is all very interesting," Lexa rolled her eyes, "but shouldn't we focus on the fact that Wanda now thinks her brother stabbed her in the back rather than left her in a hospital because he was worried about her."

"I was worried …" Pietro began to protest.

"I think you've done enough!" Lexa snapped, causing him to flinch slightly.

"Maybe I should talk to her." Evan suggested quietly, catching everyone's attention.

"You?" Scott asked incredulously. "Why? Surely Anna would be a better idea; they get along. Or Lucie …"

"No, the boys warned me when I got there." Lucie shook her head, looking guilty. "She'll know."

"And I've been underground most of the time." Evan pointed out. "So I've had the least to do with the whole thing _and_ I knew her from before."

"I think he's right." Pietro agreed.

"Alright then." Scott clapped Evan on the back. "Good luck, Spyke."

Evan nodded solemnly and strode towards the mansion. Bobby bowed his head. "A moment of silence for our fallen comrade."

His fiancée rolled her eyes. "Nothing's happened yet."

"It will." Bobby stated with certainty. "Just you wait."

"Okay, I'm hopelessly confused." Carole admitted. "What just happened?"

As Kitty took Carole and the two newcomers aside to explain, Lexa pretended to ignore the man standing beside her.

"Lex? Come on, please talk to me …"

"You should have told her." Lexa whispered. The whole idea of institution and incarceration hit too close to home and she had to hold back a shudder.

"Lexa …" Pietro reached for her, but she moved away, unwilling to give in just yet. "Lex, she was trying to _kill _him before; I was worried she'd do something stupid if we told her, something that would get her taken away again or hurt or … It's not like he made her thought she had a perfect childhood or anything … I would've stopped him if I could, I swear."

"Alright," Lexa whispered, "I forgive you. But only because I don't have the energy to stay mad at you and this has brought up some bad memories."

In a split-second, she was in his arms. She wondered why he hadn't done that before, but dismissed the thought almost immediately as he pulled her head to rest on his chest. "I love you, Lexa." He murmured into her hair. "I'd never do anything to hurt you. You know that."

"I know." Lexa responded. "That doesn't mean I'll stop her from hurting you though."

"Dammit." Pietro sighed. "Never mind."

Meanwhile, Evan wasn't nearly as confident as he pretended he was and that act dropped as soon as he was out of sight, especially as he neared Wanda's room. He could feel her powers sending out pulses of emotion through the air and he barely got down the corridor without falling.

Finally he reached the closed door and knocked softly. "Wanda? Listen, I know you're upset. And I know why you're upset; I don't blame you. But you've got to believe me – we didn't know. At least, the X-Men didn't know."

Deciding to forgo the Brotherhood for the moment, he dropped to sit against the wall, bracing himself for any hex that might get thrown at him. "Your father was out of line, Wanda. I know that. What he did was terrible. But we had nothing to do with it."

When nothing changed, Evan decided to see if he could get her to talk to _him _first and sort the others out later. "I had nothing to do with it, Wanda. Can you let me in? I'm the only one here, I swear. Everyone else is outside."

When he still got no response, Evan stood up. _Maybe I should get Lorna; she's been stabbed in the back by Magneto as well, after all._

He didn't realise he'd said it out loud.

Not until the door opened.

"Wait …"

Never before had he seen her like this.

There was no anger. There was no rage.

There was simply pain.

Pure, unadulterated pain.

Magneto had done the impossible.

He had broken her.

**

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AN: Review please!**


	4. Chapter Three: Fluctuation

**Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution. If you recognise it, it's not mine.**

**I'm really, really sorry about the long wait – I've been a bit distracted with other stories and Real Life.**

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Chapter Three – Fluctuation

**November 1999**

For a few seconds, Evan stared at her, unsure of what to do. Then he took a tentative step forwards. "Okay, I'm going to wing it now. I was expecting anger – I was ready for anger. Are you sure you don't wanna hit me?"

Wanda shook her head. "I don't know what I want." She admitted in a small voice.

Evan observed her for a few minutes. _Shit. What now? _He held his arms out, praying it would work. "Maybe not. But you look like you could use a hug."

Without a word, Wanda walked into his arms and began to cry into his shirt. Evan was momentarily taken aback; he had been expecting her to deny it. Unsurely, he wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back soothingly, taking the opportunity to steer her back into her room and sit her down, all the while holding her tightly. "It's alright."

"No, it's not alright!" Wanda disagreed, but without any of the heat she had been expecting. "My so-called father left me with people who saw me as a fucking experimental subject! And they lied to me about it! Everyone did!"

"No, no, not everyone." Evan protested. "The X-Men had no idea, I think Kitty and Lexa are ready to kill them for not telling you."

"Are you telling me that you would have told me if you'd known?" Wanda asked challengingly.

Evan hesitated. "Probably not. But not for the sake of lying to you," he added hastily, "honest! You were trying to kill him, Wanda! They were just worried about you doing something stupid that would get you taken away again."

He knew it was a risky play, even as the words left his mouth. But he needed to get her to listen to their side of things and sometimes risks had to be taken. He felt her shudder in his arms and move closer and knew he had a matter of seconds to follow it up, before it backfired spectacularly.

"They wouldn't let that happen." Evan whispered. "Neither would we."

"What if they come back?" Wanda asked, her voice terrified.

"They won't get anywhere near you." Evan vowed, shifting to meet her eyes. "I promise, Scarlet."

It had been his nickname for her even before her code-name had been created; an inside joke on how much she loved 'Gone With the Wind'. Although he would never admit it to Pietro, who had assumed it was to do with the highlights Violet had helped the girl add to her hair, he also quite enjoyed the film and used to watch it with her. _Hell, forget Pietro; I'd never admit that to __anybody_.

Finally, she smiled.

It was a small smile and there was still pain behind her eyes.

But it was a smile nonetheless.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Evan kissed her forehead lightly. "Do you want me to go and get Lorna?"

Wanda shook her head, tightening his grip on her arm.

"Alright, I'll stay here." Evan assured her. "Do you want me to ask Jean or Kitty to send Lorna up here?"

Wanda hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly.

* * *

"What's happening?" Pietro asked, pacing up and down. "What's going on? Has she killed him? He's gone, isn't he? We shouldn't have let him go in alone!" He seized the front of Lance's shirt and shook him slightly. "He was too young to die! Why him?"

"Pietro, snap out of it!" Kitty chided, rescuing Liam – who seemed to find the whole thing incredibly amusing by the way he was giggling at his godfather – from between the two men. "He's fine."

"Oh, good." Pietro sobered up immediately. "Well, he won't be for long."

Kitty rolled her eyes. "Lorna, he wants you up there."

Lorna, worried sick about her half-sister, didn't need to be told twice. She ran back to the house, navigating the staircases and corridors with ease, not even needing to think about the route anymore.

Finally, she reached her destination and tapped on the door, not waiting for a response, before pushing it open.

Like Evan, she had been expecting anger and, like Evan, she was stunned to see the mess Wanda had been reduced to.

"Oh, honey …" Lorna hurried to her side and hugged her as well. "I'm so sorry …"

Even as she said them, the words sounded hollow … meaningless …

"It was like being trapped in a vicious circle." Wanda whispered. The only sign she had given to show that she registered Lorna's arrival was to shift so that both were embracing her. "They said that my arms should be restrained no matter what happened, because I need them free to use my powers. But my powers were provoked by fear and it was terrifying."

Horror coursing through her, Lorna tightened her arms and planted a kiss on her sister's head. "It will get better, Wanda. We'll make sure it gets better."

"Do you want me to go?" Evan asked.

Wanda shook her head. "No. Don't go."

"Okay." Evan said simply. "I'll stay."

"Why didn't he do something?" Wanda sobbed. "Why didn't he help me?"

"I don't think he knew how." Evan answered slowly. "I think that he believed your father to start with that it was for the best and then he didn't know how to go about changing things."

"Do you think maybe you'd better talk to him?" Lorna suggested quietly. "You want me to get someone to send him up?"

Wanda didn't respond, so Lorna decided to listen to her gut instinct. _Jean, Kitty, could one of you send Pietro up?_

It was Kitty that responded, naturally dubious. _Are you sure that's a good idea?_

_Trust me_. Lorna thought. _I think this is going to work._

_Alright. But on your own head, be it._

Before the thought was even finished, there was a knock on the door and Pietro peered round it. "Hey."

As Lorna looked up, she felt Wanda stiffen in her embrace and saw the guilt in her brother's face. _Come on._ She prayed, wishing that she was telepathic. _Step up; don't run away from this. Please don't backfire on me._

"Wanda, I'm so sorry." Pietro whispered, falling to his knees beside them. "I tried …"

The energy in the air changed from pain to anger and Lorna cursed under her breath. _Please, please don't backfire on me!_

"You're lying!" Wanda insisted, the air beginning to crackle with energy.

* * *

"Uh oh." Lexa murmured. "You feel that?"

Kitty groaned. "I knew this was a bad idea."

Jean frowned. "Maybe I should go up and …" Breaking off with a cry, she staggered sideways, clutching her head.

Scott quickly looped an arm around her waist, supporting her. "What's wrong?"

"It's her emotions." Jean muttered, massaging her temples. "She's projecting."

"No, she's not." Kitty disagreed. "At least, I'm not picking up on anything. So either my telepathy's disappearing, or yours is getting stronger again."

Jean's face paled. "Oh, please say it's yours! I can't go through that again!"

"Yeah, it's still not a good idea for you to go up." Kitty told her. "Not if you're reacting from here. Maybe I should … Hang on." She frowned in concentration. "It's working!"

* * *

"Wanda…"

Apparently ignoring his sister's fluctuating power, Pietro continued to move towards her; Lorna felt Evan move her hand away from the other girl's arm. As Wanda's arms were freed, some of the tension seemed to disappear and the three watched Pietro approach.

Slowly – out of character for him – Pietro reached out and took his sister's hand. "I'm sorry."

For a few moments, the twins stared at one another in silence. Then Wanda let out another choked sob and fell into his arms, beginning to cry in earnest.

Lorna breathed a heavy sigh of relief and sent a message to Kitty. _I think it's worked._

_Thank God. _Kitty responded. _But I think we may have another problem._

_What? _Lorna asked immediately, dreading the answer.

_I don't know yet. _Kitty admitted. _But it won't be good._

* * *

A few hours later, everyone was in the new Danger Room simulation, enjoying the sunshine and great food.

"What I don't get," Lance commented, picking up another chicken wing, "is why your telepathy is draining and the others aren't."

His remark drew Kitty's attention away from Pietro, Wanda and Lorna, who were sitting with Lexa, Alex and Evan on the side of the 'park'. "Lance, my telepathy is as strong as ever. It's Jean's I'm worried about – I think it's evolving again."

"But what about what happened last time?" Lance asked, shooting a worried glance at his sister.

"I don't think that'll happen this time." Kitty assured him. "I think something will happen, I just don't know what or when."

Liam made a soft gurgling noise – his habit of not crying when he was awake had continued unless he was startled – and she lifted him from the blanket, kissing his nose, and settled him in her arms, quickly adjusting her shirt so she could feed him.

"Whatever it is, it'll keep us on our toes." She concluded, without missing a beat.

"It's amazing how you do that without even thinking anymore." Lance told her softly. "You make such a beautiful mother." He leaned over and kissed her softly. "I love you."

"I love you too." Kitty smiled brightly, letting Liam gasp her finger.

There was something strange about feeding Liam. Good strange, as she had told Lexa, but strange nevertheless. She guessed that it was something to do with the fact that the relationship between mother and child was the most basic and strongest in the world, that she and Liam were connected on some spiritual level she didn't understand, but at moments like this, as well as when she put him to bed and watched him sleep for a few minutes, it was like she became so much more in tune with her powers. The very core of her power seemed to pulse with some kind of strange energy that at first had scared her, but now it comforted her. It seemed to make her telepathy expand and she wondered whether Jean had it as well, but it was so difficult to explain that she had never asked.

It did so now, sending out a sort of blanket over her team and family, not reading thoughts, just mind signatures, almost like her powers wanted to make sure Liam was safe.

Suddenly she stiffened.

"What's wrong?" Lance asked, picking up on it immediately.

"I don't know." Kitty murmured. "Something's not right." She handed her son to his father and fixed her shirt again, scanning with a feather-light touch, working her way through the team, until she found what she was looking for.

Her 'emphatic blanket', as she'd come to call it in her own head, had picked up a state of confusion and fear. At first, she had assumed it belonged to Carole, or Paige, or Sarah, but they had all been accounted for.

Focusing more on thoughts than emotions, Kitty finally picked up on Jean's voice calling for help. Chancing a glance at the Summers family, she was surprised to see that Jean was laughing and playing with the twins, as though nothing was wrong.

A glance at Scott, though, told a different story, however much he was trying to hide it.

_Something wrong? _She asked.

Scott didn't look in her direction. _Jean's acting weird. Normally, we have some kind of connection, but it's like she's blocking me and I don't know why._

_Hang on. _Kitty turned her attention to the redhead. _Jean, are you alright?_

_No …_ Jean's voice replied, but it was faint … pleading … _No … Need help … please …_

_Can I help you? _Another voice asked. It sounded like Jean's, but there was a grating quality to it, a tone that made Kitty shudder.

_Who are you?_ Kitty demanded, squeezing Lance's hand to let him know she was right. He, in turn, flashed a signal to Pietro, who reluctantly left his sister's side and disappeared from the room.

_I am power. _The voice replied. _I am strength. I am the two things this foolish girl has denied herself to keep her 'control'. But no more. I am Madeline Pryor and now __I__ control __her__!_

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**AN: In case you're wondering Kitty's extra powers aren't going to stick around forever (it was around this time last time that I got a complaint – for want of a better word – about that). Review please!**


	5. Chapter Four: Power Surge

**Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution.**

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Chapter Four – Power Surge

**November 1999**

Before Kitty could move, a siren rang out through the Danger Room and the simulation faded back into the cold metal walls they knew so well.

As the others adjusted to the sudden change, Kitty reached out with her telekinesis and lifted Monica and Joey over to Wanda and Lexa, who caught them, looking startled.

"X-Men!" Kitty called. "We have a situation!"

While the others moved back to give her some room, Kitty stood and faced 'Madeline', positioning herself in front of Lance – and, more importantly, Liam. "Alright, Jean, I know you're still in there."

"Are you sure about that?" 'Madeline' asked snidely.

Kitty caught Scott's eye as he moved forwards and shook her head warningly. "Okay, Maddie – can I call you Maddie? How did you come to be?"

"I would have thought that was obvious." Madeline answered calmly. "When Jean's telepathy began evolving again, her subconscious panicked and locked it away in a corner of her mind. Eventually, the extra power formed into me and, of course, I am at least ten times more powerful than she is." She lowered her voice. "She's not the only one though, is she?"

"What do you mean?" Kitty asked, even as ice flooded her veins.

Madeline chuckled coldly. "Come on, _Shadowcat_, you know what it's like. Jean Grey is nothing more than a projection; someone who acts the way everyone else wants and expects her to. Sound familiar?"

Kitty took an inadvertent step back. "Yes." She admitted in a low voice. "But I'm different. Kitty and Shadowcat are the same person; we just react differently."

"She's a hypocrite." Madeline said slowly, almost savouring the word. "And you hate her, don't you? You used to get up, look in the mirror and want to hurt her."

"Stop it!" Kitty snapped. "Just stop it!"

Madeline leaned in. ""You're nothing but a hood."" She repeated, a smir on her face. "You know you weren't intending to say it. It was all her and you hate her for it. And she reminds you of Cyclops – that's why you don't trust him."

"I do trust Scott!" Kitty protested, ignoring the little voice in her head that added _now … _"Just stop it!"

"Make me!" Madeline hissed. "Tell me that I'm lying!"

"You're … You're …"

Kitty's heart was racing.

Even before she gained telepathic abilities, she had excellent control of her mind; no one had known she was acting a lot of the time.

No one had known that the shock of what she had assumed to be Lance's death had sent her into a slump that she felt unable to climb out of.

No one had known what Madeline had just said.

And it scared her.

* * *

Contrary to Kitty's belief, however, someone _had_ known. The moment 'Maddie' had lowered her voice, Anna had borrowed a little of Lexa's powers, so that both women had heard exactly what was said.

Whether Lexa had brushed off the words as emotional manipulation, Anna didn't know, but she had known Kitty for too long and had her in her head too many times to know that Madeline wasn't lying.

And she also knew that Kitty was dangerously close to losing control of her emotions. _And with her power, that is not a good idea._

Privately, Anna was worried about the fact that Kitty still had the powers she did – it had been over a year now; of course, she still wasn't sure _how_ Kitty had those powers, so maybe basing her knowledge on her own powers wasn't a good idea.

A few, as Kitty had found out quickly, had disappeared quickly, and now several more of the powers had disappeared – she could no longer create ice and fire, although her control over the latter remained as strong as ever and the temperature still dropped whenever Kitty was mad – of course, that had always been true and might just be due to the look in her eyes at those moments.

In fact, when Anna thought about it, the only powers that remained consistent were Kitty's original powers, her telekinesis and her telepathy; the rest only appeared when her emotions spiralled out of control.

And this thought, of course, returned Anna to the dilemma at hand and she stepped forwards, taking the attention away from her younger team-mate.

"Alright, that's enough!" She stated firmly. "There ain't nothing you can say that I haven't accepted about myself already, so there ain't nothing you can say that'll get to me!"

"Oh, really." Madeline sneered. "Every time you hold your daughter, you worry that your control will slip. Every second you were pregnant with her, you worried your control would disappear. Every time you kiss your fiancé, you worry that it will kill him."

Anna ignored her. Though valid points, it was no secret that she felt that way, especially between her and Remy. "Come on, Jean, I know you're in there. I know what it's like to have other people in your head. You can get her out, Jean!"

Madeline's expression changed to a grimace and she looked over at Professor Xavier. "Help me!"

Professor Xavier rolled forwards and took the woman's hands, closing his eyes. There was a moment of silent tension, in which the X-Men watched the telepathic exchange on tenterhooks, ready to leap in if something went wrong.

Then, suddenly, almost in slow motion, a shudder ran through Jean's body and she fell to her knees. She and Kitty both burst into tears, clinging to each other for comfort.

Lance dropped Liam into the arms of the nearest person – who happened to be Scott – and sprinted over to embrace his girlfriend and sister.

Anna sniggered at the expression of Scott's face. Although she knew that he cared about all the kids, he'd never actually held Liam – she thought it had something to do with the kid's father, despite their recent truce. She was just about to offer to take him, when she noticed something that wasn't quite normal or right.

"Scott, is it just me or are Liam's eyes red?"

"It's not just you." Scott answered, staring at the baby. "They are glowing. Why are they glowing?"

Lexa jogged over with Monica in her arms, catching sight of the faint shine herself. "Okay, that's not right. Here, let me take him." She passed Monica to Anna and lifted Liam into her arms. "Hey, sweetie; you alright?"

Liam grabbed his godmother's happily, his eyes returning to their normal colour.

"It was probably a trick of the light." Lexa commented. "You go and check on Jean."

Anna waited until Scott was out of earshot, bouncing Monica in her arms. "Do you think it was a trick of the light?"

"I don't know." Lexa admitted. "But Kitty's got enough on her plate at the moment; I'm not telling her."

* * *

Lance relinquished his hold on his sister so she could latch onto Scott instead and wrapped his girlfriend fully in his embrace.

Unlike Jean, Kitty had stopped crying, but still clung to Lance almost desperately, shaking with suppressed emotion, taking unsteady gulps of air.

"What did she say?" Lance asked quietly, having not had the privilege of enhanced hearing earlier.

For a brief moment, it seemed Kitty would change the subject, but then she sent the conversation to him through her mind, unwilling to voice it all again.

Lance tightened his arms around her. "It's alright, Kitten."

"It was _true_." Kitty murmured into his collar. "Every word of it."

"I know." Lance soothed. "I know. I wasn't myself either, if that helps."

"But you had an _excuse_." Kitty reminded him, slightly bitterly. "What did I have?"

"Nothing." Lance answered heavily. "Maybe that was the problem. You thought I was dead, remember?"

"Trust me, I remember." Kitty grimaced, feeling the ground shudder beneath her as she breathed out. "My head's killing me."

"Oh, not you too!" Jean cried. "What is it today?"

"Must be something in the water." Kitty got to her feet, but promptly stumbled, clutching Lance's arm for support. "Get the kids out of here! Now!"

Kurt promptly retrieved Lorelai from Remy, Monica from Anna and Joey from Wanda, and teleported out of the room, while Pietro took Liam and Cindy from Lexa and Jubilee and vanished in another rush of wind.

As the tremors grew stronger, Logan looked at Xavier. "Chuck, isn't there something you can do to help her?"

"No." Professor Xavier sighed heavily. "I'm afraid that preventing this surge will only be delaying it and making it worse the next time. I believe all we can do is just stand back."

"Then I suggest you do it quickly." Kitty warned, her voice strained.

Her companions only just had retreated, when she flew into the air with a painful scream, her body rigid.

Columns of fire erupted from the walls, freezing almost instantly into lava-like wall fixtures. The unaffected parts of the wall reacted in different ways – in some places, the metal tore away and flew around the room; in others, the metal became charged with electrical energy and crackled ominously.

The ground shuddered and shook with the force of a thousand earthquakes, great cracks appearing before them.

Great, dark rainclouds formed, releasing rain that pounded down on them, hailstones that left small craters in the metal floor, thunder so strong it rivalled the quakes beneath them and lightning that struck down too close for comfort.

A psychic blast shot through the room, knocking everyone to the floor as they grabbed their heads in pain. The only people not affected were the three telepaths and Lance – although not even he could explain that – who could only watch in fascinated horror as the woman he loved seemed to shudder in mid-air, her body almost glowing with the power radiating from her.

He barely had time to even think about how to help her, when she suddenly stopped screaming, gave one final breath and, the power vanishing as fast as it had appeared, plummeted towards the ground.

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**AN: Review please!**


	6. Chapter Five: Reunited

**Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men: Evolution.**

**Sorry for the wait! … Again!**

* * *

Chapter Five – Reunited

**November 1999**

Immediately, the chaos around them stopped, but Lance paid it no heed; he raced forwards and skidded to a halt beneath her, somehow managing to catch her before she hit the ground.

"Kitty …" Shifting so he could support her with one arm, Lance touched her face, wincing inwardly at how cold her skin was. "Kitten … talk to me … please …"

Oblivious to their worried team-mates clustering around them, he pressed two shaking fingers to her neck, trying desperately to find a pulse.

"Lance …?" Jean called, her voice trembling.

"I can't find anything." Lance answered, his voice barely audible. "She doesn't have a pulse."

Jean let out a soft cry and sank to her knees, clinging to her husband. Amara burst into tears, sobbing into John's shirt.

"Alright, Lance, you're panicking." Lexa stated calmly, kneeling on Kitty's other side. "Your hands shaking like that, you're not gonna feel anything." She took hold of Kitty's wrist, shifting her fingers around slightly. "There. A little slow, but steady."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Scott helped Jean to her feet. "Psylocke, take her to the infirmary. Bella, Avalanche, go with her."

"I've got her, don't worry." Taryn gently loosened Lance's grip and Kitty floated into the air once more, all though much more serenely this time.

"Oh, what now?" Scott groaned, as a buzzing filled the air.

"Relax." Lexa soothed. "It's the intercom. You need to calm down, all of you – you're not thinking straight. I'll go and see who it was; you lot … I dunno, Cyke – your call." Letting herself out of the Danger Room, she took the elevator to the main levels and jogged towards the entrance hall.

It wasn't until she got there that she realised that one of the boys would probably have let their visitor in. Sure enough, there was a young man slightly older than herself standing there, talking to Pietro. He was tall and muscled with dark hair in a buzz cut and a little girl with blonde hair clinging to his hand.

"… piece of good luck …" Pietro trailed off. "Hey, Lex. How's Kitty?"

"Infirmary." Lexa answered grimly. "Bella's taking a look at her; that's really all we know right now."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Lexa, this is Piotr Rasputin and his sister Illyana." Pietro told her. "Piotr, this is my fiancée, Lexa."

Lexa shook his hand. "Nice to meet you. How do you two know each other?"

"Oh, Piotr used to work for my father." Pietro explained. "And he helped the X-Men last October."

"Ah, yes." Lexa nodded, focusing on Illyana. "I remember you now." But without the introduction, she never would have: the energetic child in front of her was a far cry from the slightly weak, pale girl she'd met briefly over a year ago.

Illyana was practically bouncing on the spot. "Guess what I can do! Guess!"

Not as used to dealing with five-year-olds as she was with dealing with toddlers, Lexa knelt down in front of her nonetheless. "Hmm … can you … turn yourself green?"

Illyana giggled. "No!"

Lexa gasped in fake shock. "You can't? Alright … can you … create giant seahorses?"

Illyana giggled even more. "No!"

"Hmm …" Lexa looked thoughtful for a moment. "I give up. What can you do?"

"Watch." Illyana wrinkled her nose and vanished with a soft pop, reappearing a few metres away.

Lexa clapped quietly. "Well done." She glanced up. "She's a teleporter?"

"Da." Piotr nodded, and Lexa remembered that he was originally from Russia. "But she can also walk through shadows."

"Uh huh!" Illyana agreed enthusiastically. "Watch!" She scurried over the wall and seemed to melt into the shadows there. Before anyone could ask, she jumped out of the darkness on the other side of the hall.

"Well, look who learned some new tricks!" Lorna commented, appearing from the hallway. She bent down just in time to catch the ball of energy that flung itself at her. "Hey sweetheart!"

Lexa watched in amusement as Illyana chattered on and on at top speed – faster than even Pietro – until, with another squeal, she launched herself out of Lorna's arms and into John's, who appeared behind her.

"Hey there, Sheila!" John greeted, swinging the girl into the air. "Piotr, mate, what brings you back to New York?"

"I bring Illyana to the Institute." Piotr answered in broken English. "Her sickness seems much improved by her powers."

"Like I said, piece of good luck." Pietro nodded, wrapping an arm around Lexa's waist. "I'm going to tell the prof they're here; you coming?"

"Of course." Lexa allowed him to steer her down the corridor, waiting until they were out of earshot before adding, "You've already told him telepathically. What do you really wanna talk about?"

"Can't fool you, can I?" Pietro chuckled, pulling her into the nearest rooms – one of the classrooms – and sitting her down, before perching on the desk.

"I feel like I've been sent to the principal's office." Lexa joked. "Am I going to get detention?"

Pietro grinned. "No." He sighed. "Look, Lex, this is important. You remember when we had that 'you're not at all maternal' talk a while back?"

"Yeah." Lexa nodded, her smile slipping slightly.

"You said you weren't at all maternal." Pietro reminded her.

"I know." Lexa folded her hands in her lap to keep them still. "I'm not. I'm terrible with kids."

"You're kidding me, right?" Pietro asked. "You're telling me _that_ was terrible with kids?"

"Okay, so maybe I was wrong." Lexa shrugged. "I guess it's an instinctual thing."

"Lex …" Pietro leaned forwards and took her hands in his. "I've seen you with the babies. I know you're good with kids and I know that you knew that when you said you weren't. So what's going on? Is it …?" He hesitated for a second, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer. "Is it that you don't want children?"

"No." Lexa answered immediately. "No, Pietro, I'd love children one day, but …"

"Ah, so there is a 'but'." Pietro sighed as she trailed off. He pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arms around her. "Out with it, babe, what is it?"

Lexa was quiet for a second. "My situation isn't exactly normal." She said slowly. "I talked to Bella a few days after they got back from Egypt and … she doesn't think …"

"Lexa …" Pietro whispered, seeing the tears that had appeared in her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know …" Lexa admitted, fighting to keep the tears at bay. "I guess I thought … maybe … I mean, you want children one day, right?" She asked quietly, not wanting to vocalise the fact that she had been genuinely afraid of losing him over this.

Pietro kissed her soundly, the sort of kiss that made her feel warm even on the coldest day. "I love you, Lexa. Nothing will ever change that." He whispered, resting his forehead against hers. "I would love kids one day, of course I would, but any children I have, I want it to be with _you_. No one else. And if it's not to be … well, we'll just have to screw Liam over for life instead. Lord knows someone's gotta do it."

Lexa laughed shakily, despite herself. "Oh, Pietro, we wouldn't screw our kids over for life."

Pietro raised an eyebrow. "Have you met us?"

Lexa shook her head with a fond smile. "Why do I put up with you again?"

"Because you love me." Pietro reminded her, catching her lips in a brief kiss.

"Oh yeah." Lexa murmured. "I was sure there must be a reason."

* * *

Once again, Kitty found herself lying in the sterile white environment of the infirmary, staring at the ceiling. As the tiles came into focus, she realised just how boring that was. "We really should repaint this ceiling."

Belladonna's concerned face appeared over her. "Kitty? Do you remember what happened?"

"I had a freakin' great power surge." Kitty groaned, rubbing her eyes. "How could I forget?"

"Well, the fact that you woke up and promptly commented on the paintwork in here …" Belladonna trailed off with a shrug.

Kitty laughed weakly. "It was the first thing that came into my head. It's rather depressing to wake up to plain white."

"Well, you have a point." Belladonna agreed. "But how do you feel?"

"Like someone set off a bomb inside my skull." Kitty answered, sitting up carefully. "But nothing feels broken." She examined her arm, which bore a large bruise. "Just battered by the looks of things. I think most of the powers have gone." _Can you hear this?_

Belladonna didn't respond, flipping through her chart.

Kitty tried to float the chart over to her, but nothing happened. "Yep, definitely gone."

"I think you took quite a few hits up there." Belladonna told her gently. "The rest of us were too busy ducking for cover to pay attention."

Kitty's face drained of colour. "Did I hurt anyone?"

"No." Lance answered from the doorway. "There're a few headaches from your telepathy, but nothing permanent."

"Thank God." Kitty breathed, reaching for Liam, dimly noticing Belladonna retreating to her desk to give them some privacy. Her son was crying for once, something he never did when his parents were awake. "Hey, sweetie. Did Mommy scare you a bit, huh?"

As she cooed to her son, his tears disappeared and his eyes began darting around the way they did when he was relaxed, taking in his surroundings with alert interest.

"You scared all of us." Lance murmured, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "You lost everything then?"

"Everything but what I started with." Kitty confirmed with a sigh. "Suppose it had to happen sooner or later. Guess I should probably start being careful again."

"Don't joke about things like that, Kitten." Lance said quietly, his voice shaking. "For a minute there, I couldn't feel a pulse. I thought we'd lost you. I thought _I'd_ lost you."

Her gaze sliding from Liam to Lance, Kitty was stunned to see tears in his eyes and wrapped an arm around his neck, careful not to squash their baby between them. "You will never lose me, Lance. Even if something does happen to me, God forbid, I will always be here." She could feel herself getting choked up now and Liam, sensing her distress, was beginning to fuss. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

Her somewhat desperate attempt to lighten the mood worked and Lance couldn't help the chuckle that escaped into her hair, before he tilted her face up to kiss her softly. "I love you, Kitten." He bent to kiss Liam's forehead. "And I love you too, Liam."

Liam grabbed his father's finger in response, only for it to pass straight through him.

Kitty gasped. "Lance, did you see that?"

"Yes, I did." Lance answered in a hushed voice. "Did you …?"

"No, I'm not doing anything." Kitty lifted Liam into the air, kissing his nose. "That's my boy! I was starting to worry he'd be a carbon copy of you."

"I'm glad he's not." Lance admitted. "After all, he's our son. Not just mine."

"Yeah." Kitty agreed with a sigh. "Our son." She grinned up at him. "You know, no matter how many times I say that, I still love hearing it."

"So do I." Lance agreed, holding both of them close.

"I love you so much." Kitty whispered, pressing a kiss to Liam's head. "Both of you. My family."

* * *

**AN: Review please! And congratulations to the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Princess Catherine.**


	7. Chapter 6: And Unto Us

**Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution. I do own anyone you don't recognise.**

**Oops, sorry, forgot I hadn't posted this yet.**

**Note: 'bairns' is Scottish dialogue for 'babies' or 'children'.**

* * *

Chapter Six – And Unto Us

**December 24****th**** 1999**

Christmas snuck up on them quickly this year. No one could really agree on whether it was because the weather never really got any worse, or because very few people were leaving Bayville for once – all anyone knew for certain was that Christmas Eve arrived amidst a flurry of last minute panic.

As such, the mansion was quiet, because nearly everyone had gone shopping.

Sam and Rahne – who were as organised as ever, so their presents were wrapped, labelled and stacked under the huge tree in the living room – were curled up in an armchair in front of the rec room fire.

Exhausted after the morning's training session and comfortable in the warmth of the flames and her boyfriend's arms, Rahne yawned sleepily and ran through her team-mates in her head.

_Let's see … Logan's in the DR and Storm's in her greenhouse. Professor X is spending Christmas in Scotland this year; Beast is in NYC. Bella's in the infirmary. The bairns are all asleep. Monica and Joey are with Jean and Scott in Philly. Lorie's with Anna and Remy in New Orleans, something about Remy's sister-in-law having a baby. Bobby and Jubilee are wrapping presents somewhere. Lorna's in town looking for a job. And everyone else is at the mall._

Rahne sighed contentedly and snuggled into Sam's embrace. He dropped a kiss on her forehead. "I love you."

"I love you too." Rahne turned her head to bury her face in the crook of his neck, feeling sleep begin to wash over her.

"It's so quiet." Sam commented in a hushed voice. "It's not normal."

"Careful." Rahne warned with a smile she knew he couldn't see. "You'll jinx it."

"YOU'LL NEVER GET ME!"

"Too late." Rahne sat up with a sigh, running a hand through her auburn hair, just as the door to the rec room burst open and Jubilee ran in, Bobby close behind her, both of them wielding empty tubes of wrapping paper.

"And they're parents." Sam concluded, watching the two begin a mock duel. "Poor Cindy."

Rahne hid her smile behind her hand. "To be fair, Sam, Jubilee is a wonderful mother."

"I never said she wasn't." Sam reminded her. "I just said that they're less mature than she is."

"Technically, you didnae say that either." Rahne pointed out.

"Be quiet, you." Sam kissed her quickly.

It was only due to her enhanced hearing that Rahne heard the phone over the noise in the room. "It's a wonder Cindy and Liam are sleeping through that," she grumbled, disentangling herself from the armchair and picking up the phone. "Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, Wolfsbane speaking; how can I help?"

"_May it seem?"_

Rahne frowned. That couldn't be right. "Excuse me." She covered the mouthpiece. "Guys, shut up!"

Startled, Bobby and Jubilee fell silent.

"Thank you." Rahne removed her hand. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"_Hey, it's me." _Kitty repeated, making much more sense this time. _"Amara went into labour at the mall, but we're stuck in traffic and you're closer than the hospital, so Lance and I are bringing them back. Can you tell Bella to prep the infirmary?"_

"Oh my God!" Of all the things Rahne had expected to hear, that definitely hadn't been one of them. Not by a long shot. "Amara's having the baby? How far away are you?"

"_About …"_ Kitty trailed off. _"Scratch that; we don't have time. This baby's coming now. Lance, pull over!"_

"_Where?" _Lance's voice came through. _"We're in the middle of traffic and it's end-to-end; I can't move an inch."_

"_Alright, then just try not to make any sudden movements."_

"Do you want me to get hold of Kurt?" Rahne asked, fully aware of the others listening in intently.

"_No time. She's too close to … Sweet Lord!"_

An unmistakeable wail came through the phone. Bobby collapsed into the other armchair, his face white, and Jubilee's hands flew to her mouth. "Did she just have the baby?"

"Kitty!" Rahne repeated. "Did Amara just have the baby?"

"_She just had the baby." Kitty confirmed. "Oh, Amara, she's beautiful!"_

* * *

Kitty had almost forgotten she was still on the phone as she shakily wrapped the newborn baby girl in her jacket, the only thing available. "Lance, I need scissors and string."

"Hang on." Lance reached across John, who was hanging over the back of the front seat, gaping at his new daughter in astonishment. He rummaged in the glove compartment and pulled out the two items, passing them back.

"Thanks." Kitty glanced at Amara. "Just hang on a second; I just need to sort her out. I really should sterilise these things."

"I've got water." John offered, snapping out of his shock to hand her a bottle.

"And I think I've got a kettle in here somewhere." Lance added, rooting in the glove compartment again.

"A kettle?" Kitty repeated, temporarily distracted. "Why is there a kettle in your glove compartment?"

"Search me." Lance shrugged. "I've got everything in here. Except gloves."

"And where are we going to plug it in?" Kitty asked, rolling her eyes. "Unless you've got a portable generator in there too?"

"Well …" Lance trailed off with a chuckle when three pairs of eyes fixed on him. "Just kidding. You've got a very good point."

"Here." John wrapped his hand around the bottle and the water inside began bubbling. "That enough?"

"Perfect." Kitty quickly cleaned the child up and handed her to her mother. "There you go, honey."

"Oh my God …" Amara cradled her close. "John, look at her."

"I'm looking." John slid back into the back seat, thanks to Kitty's powers, and wrapped his arms around her. "I love you so much."

Kitty smiled and phased into the front seat, giving them some privacy. "Go slow."

Lance raised an eyebrow. "Again, Kitten, we're at a standstill, I don't think that'll be a problem. Your phone's still on."

"I know." Kitty lifted it back to her ear. "You still there?"

"_Still here."_ Rahne answered. _"Everyone okay?"_

"Everyone's fine." Kitty assured her. "Just get the infirmary ready and we'll be there in …" She hesitated and looked at Lance, who scanned the traffic.

"About twenty minutes." He finished.

"About twenty minutes." Kitty repeated. "We'll see you then."

* * *

Just under an hour later – an amazing feat given the amount of traffic – Amara and her new daughter were settled in the infirmary. For obvious reasons, Belladonna hadn't been happy about the venue of the child's birth and had insisted she check them over.

John had refused to leave her side, but everyone else had elected to give them some space and wait for news in the red room.

Everyone, that is, except Paige and Jamie, who, as the youngest, had taken it upon themselves to spy through the windows of the infirmary doors and try to gauge when the others could come down.

"Weird coincidence, isn't it?" Paige murmured.

"What is?" Jamie asked.

"A pregnant woman journeying home on Christmas Eve, but can't get to a room. And unto us a child is born." Paige elaborated in a dreamy voice.

Jamie nodded understandingly. "… I don't get it."

Paige just rolled her eyes and hit him upside the head. At that moment, Amara glanced up and caught sight of them, and beckoned them in.

Two heads – one dark, one fair – poked around the door. "Are you sure?" Paige asked.

"Yes, it's fine." Amara assured her with a smile. "We've been given the go-ahead, right Bella?"

Belladonna sighed. "Well, I still don't like that you gave birth in the back of Lance's car, but there've been no ill effects."

"So you wouldn't have minded if I'd given birth in Scott's car then?" Amara asked innocently.

Belladonna rolled her eyes. "I'd rather you hadn't given birth in a car at all, but Scott's is slightly more sanitary."

"Are you kidding?" John asked with a snigger. "Captain Tightass? He probably vacuums it out every day."

Amara swatted his arm with her spare hand. "Don't curse around the baby please, John."

"Oh, she's beautiful!" Paige cooed, peering into the blankets. "What's her name?"

Amara smiled and beckoned Jamie closer as well. "Jamie, Paige, I'd like you to meet Eloise Miranda Allerdyce."

* * *

**AN: Review please!**


	8. Chapter 7: Moving On

**Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution. Lorelai, Joey, Monica, Cindy, Liam and Eloise do belong to me, as does Lucie. I have taken a basic story-line and some dialogue from Friends 'The Last One' for this chapter and the next (and possibly the one after it), but no copyright breach is intended and it is definitely not 'the last one'.**

* * *

Chapter Seven – Moving On

**December 1999**

As the year – and the millennium – drew to a close, the X-Men were all preparing for a New Year's party to remember.

Well, not all of them.

John and Amara had departed with Eloise for Nova Roma the previous day and they weren't expected back until late January, and Kurt and Amanda were seeing in the new millennium in Germany with Kurt's foster parents.

At the moments preparations were on hold and the rec room was, for once, quiet and peaceful.

Or it was, until Alex came running in, skidding to a halt in the middle of the room. "Guys! Guys! Listen up!"

"We're listening." Kitty assured him, not taking her eyes off her book. "What's up?"

Alex grinned. "Well, Lorna says she's got some really big news, so when she gets here, let's all pretend like …"

"Hey, everyone!" Lorna greeted, walking in with a bright smile on her face.

"Never mind." Alex sighed, visible deflating as he dropped into a chair. "But it would've been really good."

"What's going on, Lorna?" Jean asked. "Alex said you have news for us."

Lexa gasped. "Oh, does this have anything to do with that interview?"

Everyone looked up at this.

"You had a job interview?" Scott asked.

Lorna nodded. "Turns out Gucci had an opening for a designer, can you believe it?"

"Oh, honey, it's like that job was _made_for you!" Jubilee commented. "How did it go?"

Lorna sighed. "Well, it didn't look too promising … I mean, I don't have any experience, or qualifications, so I just had to take some of my designs along and hope for the best …"

"And?" Kitty prompted.

Lorna broke into a smile. "They loved them and offered me the job!"

"Lor, that's fantastic!" Alex jumped to his feet again and hugged her tightly. "You know what? This calls for a celebration! Who has Pixie Stix?"

"Pixie Stix?" Scott repeated incredulously.

Alex rolled his eyes. "In case you hadn't noticed, bro, we're all underage, so alcohol's out of the question. But we've got to do something! Lorna just got, like, her dream job."

Lorna took a deep breath. "The job is in Paris."

Alex's smile disappeared and the room went quiet. Only the three toddlers could be heard, chattering quietly to themselves in a language that only they could understand.

As the silence grew heavier, Lorna looked around. "Okay, someone please say something!"

"So …" Pietro began, his voice hoarse; he stopped and cleared his throat. "So if you take this job, you'll be … moving? To Paris?"

Wanda rolled her eyes. "Either that, or she'd be facing one bitch of a commute. And there's no 'if' about it, there can't be – it's like Alex said, this is her dream job."

"Exactly." Lorna sighed. "I know it's huge and scary and really, _really_ far away from you guys, but … it's such an incredible opportunity for me."

"Hey, we'll work something out." Pietro assured her with a hug.

"Thank you!" Lorna turned to Alex. "And you?"

Alex forced a smile and embraced her as well. "It'll be fine. Are you …" He hesitated, torn between needing to ask her and fear of her answer. "Are you sure it's what you want?"

"I think so." Lorna answered. At least, he thought that was what she said, since her words were largely directed not just at his shoulder but into it.

"What's going on?" Paige asked curiously, as she and Jamie joined them.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Paige, why are you covered in flour?" He held up a hand to forestall her answer, groaning at the smile on her face. "You know what? Never mind, I don't wanna know."

"I got a really incredible job offer." Lorna told them. "But the job is in Paris."

"What?" Jamie whined. "No, no, no, no, no! Too much is changing round here, alright? First of all, everyone starts getting married – congratulations, guys, really – and then Jean and Scott decide they wanna move out …"

"Hey!" Jean interrupted. "This morning, you said you'd be supportive!"

"Yeah, well, it comes and goes, I wouldn't trust it!" Jamie snapped.

Lorna cleared her throat. "Look, I understand that this is a huge idea to get used to, and it's going to change a lot, but it would mean so much to me if you could all get on board with this."

"Of course we can." Paige told her, giving her a hug. "Jamie, come join in!"

"No." Jamie scowled defiantly. "My hugs are reserved for people staying in America!"

Lorna released Paige and approached him slowly. "Jamie …"

"No, you keep your France-going arms away from me!" Jamie yelped, sprinting from the room.

"Jamie …!" Lorna sighed, jogging after him.

Kitty sighed and laid her book down. "I'd better go to."

"Are you okay with this?" Jubilee asked, as soon as Lorna was out of earshot.

"Well, it makes me sad." Bobby answered with a frown. "I'm going to miss her, but we just have to …"

"I was talking to Alex." Jubilee cut him off wearily.

"Shutting up now."

"Lorna moving to another country?" Alex asked. "Not seeing her every day? She's my best friend, Jubes. How can I possibly be okay with it?"

* * *

**January 2000**

It took Lorna the rest of that year and the first part of January to get Jamie to talk to her again, but she took the job without hesitation.

The day before she was due to leave, the X-Men took it upon themselves to throw her a huge goodbye-party and, by the time it was dying down, Lorna had taken each person aside individually to say goodbye to them; she was currently talking to Jamie out on the balcony, since the party was being held in the 'party room' on the second floor rather than the rec room.

Kitty was of the opinion that this decision, made by several of the New Mutants, had something to do with Logan's hidden stash of alcohol rather than the name and kept an eye out for strange behaviour around the punch bowl, but this theory had yet to be proved.

Alex was waiting nervously beside her. He was the only person Lorna hadn't spoken to yet.

"You're next." Jubilee reminded him unnecessarily. Everyone was just waiting around now, waiting for the final goodbye. "Are you ready?"

"I don't think so." Alex admitted.

"Oh, you're definitely not." Bobby warned. "I haven't cried like that in years."

Jubilee gave him a funny look. "You cried last night at the six o'clock news."

"That old lady was being scammed by her mechanic!" Bobby protested, defending his tears.

"I can't believe she saved me for last." Alex sighed. "What is taking so long?"

"I don't know, but Jamie seems to be taking it really well." Paige commented.

They all watched through the window as, out on the balcony, Lorna gave Jamie a hug and turned away to come back inside. As soon as her back was turned, he put one foot up on the balcony railing and prepared to swing his other leg over.

"NO!" Everyone lurched forwards, Jean and Taryn reaching out with their telekinesis as they did, but Lorna had seen him as well and pulled him down again, firmly leading him back inside.

As Kitty rushed over to Jamie, giving him a hug, Alex braced himself, as Lorna put a hand on his shoulder. "Okay, here we go …"

"Well …" Lorna hesitated. "I think I'm gonna go to bed."

"What?" Alex blinked.

Lorna wiped away tears. "This was amazing, guys. Thank you so much. Goodnight."

As the door closed behind her, Alex finally regained his voice. "I don't get a goodbye!"

"Lucky bastard!" Jamie sobbed into Kitty's shoulder.

No one bothered to correct his language.

Most of the X-Men managed to escape the coming storm, but Jubilee, Bobby, Jamie and Kitty were still there an hour later, the latter cursing Lance in her mind for abandoning her, hearing Alex out as he paced the length of the room.

"Unbelievable! She says goodbye to everyone but me?"

Jubilee cleared her throat. "Well, maybe she thought … with you two being best friends and all … that it'd be … I dunno … implicit."

"Well, it needs to be plicit!" Alex snapped. "When you left, you said goodbye to Bobby, right?"

Jubilee nodded reluctantly. "Against his better efforts."

"Her saying goodbye kinda cemented that she was leaving." Bobby elaborated. "So I hid." Sensing that he wasn't helping, he tried another approach. "Look, there's gotta be a reason. Have you done anything to piss her off lately?"

"No!" Alex answered immediately. "At least I don't think so. No, she'd have told me if I'd done something that bad – Lorna's not the 'silent treatment' type. Don't I deserve anything? A few tears? A cursory hug?"

Jamie stood up.

"Not from you!"

"Why don't you go and talk to her?" Kitty asked, as Jamie sat down again, slightly disappointed.

"And say what?" Jubilee retorted. ""You owe me a goodbye"? He's got more pride than that!"

"The hell I do!" Alex disagreed, stalking out.

* * *

Lorna was in her room, sorting through her travel documents one last time. _I should have said goodbye to him, _a small voice whispered in the back of her mind.

No. She'd say goodbye to Alex tomorrow morning, not until she absolutely had to.

She should have known he wouldn't see it that way.

She shouldn't have been startled when her door burst open, with nary a knock to announce his arrival.

"I don't get a goodbye?" Alex demanded.

"What?" Lorna asked, trying to buy time.

"Everyone gets a goodbye but me?" Alex elaborated. "What do I have to do to get a goodbye, huh? Live with you? Be best friends with you? Support you in all of this? Oh, wait a minute, I did all those things!"

"Alex …"

"No, maybe it's me." Alex interrupted. "Maybe I'm not giving you enough credit. I mean, it is difficult to say goodbye to all those people. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Good …" He broke off, pretending to choke. "It's physically impossible!"

He sighed and the fight seemed to seep out of him, as he fixed her with a look so disappointed that she swore it broke her heart. "I can't believe after everything we've been through _this_ is how you wanna leave things between us."

Even after the door had closed behind him, Lorna didn't move, staring after him. Finally making her mind up, she followed him.

* * *

Alex had barely closed his bedroom door behind him, when it burst open again.

"You really think I didn't say goodbye to you because I don't care?"

Alex turned to face her wearily, too hurt and exhausted to fight anymore. "That's what it seemed like."

Lorna's eyes softened a little, but she kept glaring at him. "I can't believe, after all the time we've spent together, you don't know one thing about me!"

"Then why the hell didn't you say something?" Alex demanded.

"Because it is too damn hard, Alex!" Lorna yelled, tears beginning to cascade from her dark eyes, still burning with … hurt? Passion? He couldn't quite make it out. "That's why! I can't even _begin_ to tell you how much I'm going to miss you! You're my best friend, Alex; I know you better than I know myself! When I think about not seeing you every day, it makes me not want to go! So if you think for one second that I didn't say goodbye to you because you don't mean as much to me as everyone else, you're wrong! It's because you mean more to me!"

She wiped her eyes furiously, apparently only just noticing the tears on her face. "So there! There's your goodbye!"

Alex's mind caught up just as she made to storm out again. "Lorna!"

She spun around. "What?"

"You keep … you can't …" Alex couldn't gather the words he needed, couldn't even form a sentence in his head, let along vocalise it. She stood waiting for his response, tears still glimmering on her beautiful face, and he gave up.

Striding to the door, he seized her waist, pulling her to him, and kissed her, not expecting her to respond, but more than glad when she did.

His foot caught his bedroom door and it closed on them, but neither took any notice as Alex's shirt hit the floor.

They had both been waiting for far too long.

* * *

**AN: Review please!**


	9. Chapter 8: Goodbye

**Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution, or Friends, which this chapter and the last take their roots from. This is because I feel a large dose of angst coming up and I wanted to inject some humour into the situation.**

* * *

Chapter Eight – Goodbye

**January 2000**

The next morning, the mansion awoke to a state of tension, everyone dreading what was to happen. Two people, however, were slightly more upbeat.

And they had a right to be, because they hadn't been woken up once during the night, which meant they were both wide awake for once.

Well, Lance was.

"You need coffee so badly right now." Lance chuckled affectionately.

Kitty gave him a dirty look. "Yeah, well, unless you want to take over feeding duties, that's not gonna happen for another couple of months."

"You are really not a morning person." Lance commented.

"You'd think you'd know that by now." Kitty shot back.

"I do." Lance kissed her softly. "And I love you anyway."

"Well, aren't you romantic?" Any other woman would have made it sound like a warning, but her smile never wavered.

"When I want to be." Lance slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer, but before he could kiss her, a throat cleared in the doorway.

"Sorry to interrupt," Alex said, leaning against the doorframe, with no hint of remorse in his eyes, "but have you seen Lorna?"

Kitty glanced up. "No, I haven't seen her since last night. I think she's still asleep."

Lance turned her attention back to him and kissed her anyway. "You want some coffee?"

"Yes please." Alex looked around. "It's strangely quiet in here today."

"That's because it's a strange day." Kitty sighed sadly. "I still can't believe Lorna's leaving."

"Hey, how'd it go last night?" Lance asked. "She seemed pretty mad at you when she asked if I'd seen you."

Alex shrugged. "Well, we … we worked things out."

"What's with the smile?" Kitty asked suspiciously. "Did something happen between you two?"

"Hey, I'm not one to kiss and tell!" Alex protested, but couldn't keep the smile off his face. "But I'm also not one to have sex and shut up about it."

Kitty gasped. "Get out! You're kidding! You and Lorna?"

Alex grinned. "Yeah, I know; I can hardly believe it myself."

Lance handed him a mug of coffee. "So does this mean that you two are together now?"

"Thanks." Alex took a sip, contemplating his answer. "I don't know." He admitted finally. "We didn't really get a chance to talk about it."

"Do you want to get together?" Kitty asked.

"I don't know." Alex repeated. "I … Last night was incredible, it just felt so right … and when I was holding her, I never wanted to let her go, you know?"

Lance nodded, wrapping an arm around Kitty's waist, remembering the first morning he'd woken with her in his arms.

Alex's mind seemed to catch up with him. "You know what? Yes. Yeah, I wanna be with her."

"Yay!" Kitty cried.

Both men hushed her frantically.

"Yay!" Kitty repeated in a whisper.

Lance chuckled fondly and kissed her forehead, before turning back to Alex. "So is she still going to Paris?"

Alex looked like he'd been punched in the gut. "Oh God … I hadn't even thought of that … I hope not!"

Kitty grinned. "Oh, this is turning out to be the best day ever! You and Lorna might be getting together; Amara and John are coming home; Liam slept all through the night last night … I feel like I'm in a musical!" Putting on another pot of coffee, she began to sing. "_I … feel … like … today could be a very good day! I … feel …"  
_

"Morning!" Lorna greeted breezily.

Kitty shrugged. "Guess you'll never know how the song ends."

"Hey." Alex greeted. "How'd you sleep?"

"Good." Lorna replied calmly. "You?"

"Good." Alex nodded.

"I bet you did." Lance muttered with a smirk, causing Kitty to elbow him lightly.

Lorna turned to them. "Would you mind giving us a minute?"

"Of course." Kitty told her. "We've got to get Liam anyway. Coffee should be ready in a few minutes." She linked her arm through Lance's and steered him out of the kitchen.

Lance glanced over his shoulder. "Do you think she'll stay?"

"She has to!" Kitty answered. "Alex is crazy about her; he's loved her since he met her. It'd just be cruel if she left after this!"

Lance shuddered, pulling her closer. "I don't know what I'd do if you moved to Paris."

"Come with me?" Kitty suggested innocently, reaching up to kiss him. "That's alright. I'm not moving to Paris."

* * *

**Later that day …**

"And then she said it was the perfect way to say goodbye."

Lorna was leaving in five minutes, John and Amara were on their way back from the airport and Alex's heart was scattered on the rec room floor in several thousand tiny pieces.

Kitty winced at Lorna's repeated words. "Ouch."

"What did you say?" Lance asked.

"Nothing." Alex sighed heavily. "What do you say to that?"

"You have to tell her how you feel!" Kitty told him. "She doesn't know that you want to be with her; if she did, she might feel differently; she might even stay!"

"Even if I do decide to tell her, I don't have to tell her today!" Alex protested. "I'll see her again; there'll be plenty of opportunities!"

Kitty laughed, though not unkindly. "Alex, she's going to _Paris_! Do you have any idea how many hot guys there are in Paris?"

Lance cleared his throat. "I'm right here."

Kitty rolled her eyes. "Well, _obviously _there are hot guys here as well. But Paris is … well, it's Paris!"

She knew the argument was weak, but she was saved from dealing with that by Amara and John's return with baby Eloise.

"We're back!" Amara called. "And your cab's outside, Lorna."

"Oh, it's time for me to go." Lorna sighed.

Wanda gave her a hug. "Call us when you get there, okay?"

"I will." Lorna promised, turning to embrace Pietro.

"You sure you don't want us to come with you?" Pietro asked, kissing his half-sister's forehead.

"Thanks, but no. I don't want to drag this out." Lorna stooped to kiss Eloise in Amara's arms. "Okay, I can't say goodbye to everyone again. I love you all so much. Au revoir!" She picked her bags up and grimaced. "Oh, they're gonna hate me over there."

With that, the door had closed and she was gone, leaving the team in a heavy silence.

"You just let her go." Kitty sighed.

"Maybe it's for the best." Lance said quietly, seeing the pain in Alex's eyes. "Maybe you've just got to think of last night the way she does. Maybe sleeping together really was the perfect way to say goodbye."

Although the three were oblivious to it – Alex because he was staring at the spot Lorna had previously occupied, Lance and Kitty because they were focussing on him – there was a sharp intake of breath throughout the room and Lexa and Wanda both automatically grabbed hold of Pietro to stop him from reacting.

Amara's mouth fell open. "They slept together?" She asked her husband.

"I was with you." John reminded her.

"But now she'll never know how he feels!" Kitty protested, ignoring the by-play.

"Maybe that's okay." Lance refuted, everyone else watching as though they were a particularly interesting tennis match. "Now he can move on, he can finally get over her."

"Yeah, that's true." Alex agreed quietly. "Except … I don't wanna get over her."

"What?" Lance asked.

"I don't!" Alex told him, his voice getting stronger. "I wanna be with her! I'm gonna go after her."

Lance laughed. "Yeah, you are!"

"This is so cool!" Bobby yelled.

John turned to Amara. "I have no idea what's going on, but I am excited!"

"I'll give you a lift to the airport!" Kitty said, following Alex out to the garage. A flurry of shouts followed them, as the shock wore off, and her parting words were lost in the chaos.

"Wait a minute!" Lance's voice cut through the noise. "Did she just say she was taking my jeep?"

His concern was well-founded – while Lance wasn't quite as protective of his car as Kitty was with the Comet, everyone knew that Kitty's driving was a little … erratic. Fine for a bike, not so much for a car.

"She can't." Jean frowned. "She hasn't got the keys, for a start."

Lance checked his back pocket, finding it empty. "Oh, dammit!"

Out in the garage, Kitty phased into the driver's seat of Lance's car and slipped the key into the ignition. "Comet's having engine trouble; we'll have to take this."

"But Lance …" Alex protested.

Kitty rolled her eyes. "I'll tell him it's my fault; he can't stay mad at me."

Alex sighed and got in. "There's no seatbelt."

"Yeah, the paramedics had to cut through it." Kitty told him matter-of-factly.

Alex stared at her. "What?"

"It's okay." Kitty assured him. "If we hit something, the engine will explode, so it's better if you're thrown from the car."

"_What?_"

Kitty smirked. "I'm kidding, Alex, chill out! There's never been a seatbelt that side. Now let's go."

* * *

Lorna was just about to board the plane when she heard someone calling her name. The note of desperation in the voice caused her to double back, hurrying back into the departure lounge, where she was stunned to find Alex and Kitty standing there, both slightly out of breath. "What … What are you doing here?"

Kitty squeezed Alex's shoulder. "Alright, Summers, you're up."

"Alex, what are you doing here?" Lorna repeated.

Alex took her hands and pulled her out of the crowd. "I need to talk to you."

"Alex, I'm supposed to be getting on a plane." Lorna reminded him. "What is so important that you couldn't wait until I landed?"

"Okay, the thing is …" Alex took a deep breath. "Don't go."

Lorna stared at him for a few seconds. "What?"

"Don't go." Alex responded, dropping one of her hands to cup her face. "Please don't go, Lorna. I love you."

Lorna opened her mouth, but no sound escaped her. The noise of the terminal seemed to fade around them, leaving the two in a kind of bubble, cut off from everyone around her.

"I know I shouldn't have waited." Alex admitted. "But I'm telling you now, Lorna. I love you. Stay with me."

"Miss?" The gate attendant called. "The plane is about to leave. If you're boarding, we need you to come now."

"Lorna." Alex recaptured her attention. "I know you love me. I can feel it."

And he could. Now he admitted how much he loved her, he could identify the glint in her eye that appeared every time she looked at him.

His voice dropped to a pleading whisper. "Stay. Please."

"I …" Lorna swallowed, taking a step back. "I have to go."

"Lorna …" Alex felt his heart stop, shaking his head in denial.

"They're waiting for me, Alex." Lorna whispered. "I'm sorry." She handed her boarding pass to the gate attendant once more. "I'm so sorry."

* * *

**AN: If you watch Friends, you saw that one coming. If not, *ducks* Review please!**


	10. Chapter 9: Betrayal

**Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution or any of the characters you recognise!**

* * *

Chapter Nine – Betrayal

**January 2000**

Alex watched in numb disbelief as the gate closed behind her and she disappeared from sight. "But …"

Kitty slipped her hand into his. "I'm so sorry, Alex. I thought …"

"Yeah … so did I …" Alex tried to smile but failed miserably. "It's not your fault. I guess that's it."

Kitty wanted to tell him not to give up that easily, but she couldn't help feeling responsible for his current mood. She had been so certain that Lorna felt the same way. "It might have been shock." She said quietly, gently guiding him out of the airport, mouthing a 'thank you' to the security guard who had let them through without a pass.

Alex shook his head miserably. "No, it's over."

"It's not over!" Kitty protested, ignoring the slight guilty feeling in the pit of her stomach. "She'll call."

Alex didn't look convinced, but didn't argue. "Alright, but if she doesn't, _then_ it's over."

The drive back to the Institute was quiet, for obvious reasons. When they walked back in without Lorna and without smiles, no one pushed for an explanation, much to Kitty's relief.

Scott took one look at his brother's face and dragged him outside again to talk.

"What happened?" Lance asked quietly, as Kitty passed him.

Kitty just shook her head and made her way to the nursery, knowing he would follow her.

Liam was lying awake in his crib, his gaze focused on the cot next to him, where Cindy was sleeping.

A small smile crept onto Kitty's face at the sight, growing when her son caught sight of her and broke into a smile himself.

Unable to resist, she lifted Liam into her arms, kissing his forehead as he cuddled into her chest. "Watching her sleep already, Liam? It's a bit early for that, young man."

"It's never too early for love at first sight." Lance disagreed from the doorway. "I was twelve."

Kitty blushed, but rolled her eyes. "Lance, you can't marry him off already. I'm not ready to let him go yet."

Lance chuckled. "I'm kidding, Kitten. Except the love at first sight bit." He kissed her softly.

Kitty smiled. "You're a sap, you know that, right?"

"Ssh." Lance grinned. "You'll ruin my reputation."

"What reputation?" Kitty quipped, as they left the nursery.

"Oh, you're a funny one." Lance grumbled with a mock-frown. "What happened at the airport? Did he tell her?"

"Uh huh." Kitty sighed. "And she got on the plane."

"What the …?" Lance stopped dead. "But … But you're never wrong!"

Kitty raised an eyebrow. "Is this you trying to make me feel better? Because if it is, you're doing a really bad job."

"Sorry, sweetheart." Lance wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "It's just … How's Alex taking it?"

Kitty grimaced. "I'm hoping she was in shock and that she's going to call and tell him … or Alex may never forgive me."

"Hey, you're allowed to be wrong." Lance pointed out, kissing her forehead. "And at least now he knows and can start trying to move on."

"Yeah." Kitty sighed. "I guess you're right."

* * *

But Alex didn't move on.

He wallowed for the next three days, waiting for the phone to ring, praying with each text that it was Lorna.

It never was.

Finally, he emerged from his room, his body wrought with determination, ignoring all calls of his name in favour of storming out of the mansion and heading straight for the airport.

If Lorna didn't feel the same way, he would accept that, but he deserved more than a half-hearted excuse and an apology.

* * *

Lorna Dane, a.k.a Polaris, was not having a good day. Guilt over how she had left things with Alex was weighing her down, making her movements seem sluggish and sending a jolt of pain through her heart every time she thought of him.

The night before she'd left had been the best of her life and the memory of his touch and his kiss still ghosted over her skin – but the fear of hearing him say that it meant nothing more than a goodbye had prompted her to attempt to see it the same way, jumping before she was pushed.

"_I know you love me. I can feel it."_

She did love him.

And she hadn't told him.

"_They're waiting for me, Alex. I'm so sorry."_

She could explain her reaction at the airport – shock, combined with disbelief. It wasn't until she was on the plane and somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean that her mind caught up with her and she realised what he'd said and how she'd reacted.

What she couldn't explain was why she hadn't yet called him to explain all that.

"Coward." She muttered, kicking the coffee table of her rented apartment as she passed it. She regretted it immediately and hopped over to sink onto the couch, rubbing her foot.

At that point, there was a knock on the door, which broke through her thoughts and forced her to get up to answer the door, only to find …

"Alex?" Lorna gasped.

Alex didn't flinch at her shock, folding his arms over his chest. "We need to talk."

Lorna nodded wordlessly, stepping back to let him into the apartment. "Do you want some coffee?"

"No, thank you." Alex answered, coolly.

"I'm glad you're here." Lorna whispered, sinking back onto the couch. "That is _not_ how I wanted to leave things between us, Alex, but I wasn't expecting you there and … You took me by surprise, alright? And I know I should have said something and I know I should have called, but …"

"Why didn't you?" Alex interrupted, staring at something over her head.

"I was scared." Lorna admitted. "Scared you'd hate me for walking away like that."

Alex sighed and his shoulders slumped. "I could never hate you, Lorna. You're my best friend."

"I thought that's how you saw it." Lorna sighed.

Alex frowned in confusion. "What?"

"The perfect way to say goodbye." Lorna repeated. "I thought that's how you saw it, but I was too scared to hear you say it so I …"

"Said it first." Alex finished, with dawning clarity on his face.

Lorna nodded. "I love you, Alex."

Alex stared at her for a second, before breaking into a grin. "You mean that?"

Lorna smiled. "Yes, of course I mean that."

Alex let out a loud whoop, pulling her to her feet and spinning her round the apartment. Her laughter rang through her living room until he set her on her feet again and kissed her, still grinning against her lips.

When they pulled away, Lorna was in his lap, both of them curled up on the couch.

"I love you so much, Lorna." Alex whispered, kissing her forehead. Then, all at once, he seemed to deflate against her. "And you're still thousands of miles away."

Lorna smiled slightly. "Well, I've been thinking about that …"

* * *

By the time Alex walked back through the door of the Institute the next day, Abigail had arrived in New York. She was pacing across the Entrance Hall, watched by her husband and youngest son, who was smirking slightly. "She does realise that Alex is an adult now, right?"

"Ssh." Alex Sr. hushed him. "Not a good time to point that out."

"Where do you think you've been?" Abby demanded. "I've been worried sick!"

"Well, I _thought_ I was in Paris." Alex answered slowly. "But I might've been wrong."

Immediately, Abby's demeanour changed. "Oh, sweetheart … Did you go to talk to Lorna?"

"Yeah, I did." Alex said quietly.

"And?" Kitty asked quietly from the doorway to the rec room. "What happened?"

Alex walked over to her and hugged her. "I'm sorry if it seemed like I was blaming you. I know you were just trying to help."

Kitty relaxed slightly. "It didn't. Not that much anyway."

"What happened?" Scott pressed.

Alex released Kitty, his gaze falling to the floor. "Well …"

"I'm back!" Lorna sung, walking through the front door.

Several jaws dropped and, with a rush of wind, Pietro was standing in front of her. "Lorna? You didn't quit, did you?"

"No, I went to my boss and begged and she transferred me to their office in Manhattan." Lorna chuckled. "It didn't even occur to me until after I got to Paris that I could have done that."

"We all seem to have logic problems for some reason." Kitty commented, as everyone swarmed to welcome her back.

"So you're back for good this time then?" Scott checked.

"Yeah." Lorna answered as Alex returned to her side and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Definitely."

* * *

And so, although the millennium had a rocky start, the X-Men were finally moving on from all the prejudice they had encountered.

No one believed it was over – history told them that no form of racism vanished that fast – but they could stop letting it run their lives.

As their lives slowly began to get back to normal – well, as normal as their lives could get anyway – only a few people were aware of the other new couple to have formed in the Institute.

Everyone knew about Alex and Lorna (it was difficult not to) but Roberto and Carole had started dating just before Christmas and somehow kept it under the radar.

Only a few people noticed the shared glances between the two, the brief touches in the rec room and at the dinner table.

The observant smiled knowingly and said nothing, including Kitty, who had long since abandoned her suspicions of Carole and had happily welcomed her with open arms.

One cold day, during the last week of January, the two were curled up in Carole's room, listening to the wind howling outside the window.

Carole's head rested on his chest and he rubbed a hand up and down her back lazily. As he gazed down at her, he couldn't help the little jump his heart gave as he reassured himself, once again, that this beautiful woman was _his_.

A beeping noise broke the silence and Roberto glanced over to the desk, where Carole's laptop sat. "You've got mail, babe."

"Hmm?" Carole lifted her head sleepily and followed his gaze. "I wonder who that's from." Reluctantly, she disentangled herself from his arms and sat up, reaching over to open the message.

"The eagle has landed." Roberto read over her shoulder. "What the hell's that supposed to mean? Carole?" He caught sight of his girlfriend's face, suddenly pale and scared. "What's wrong?"

"No, no, no …" Carole pulled herself from his embrace and hurried to the window, peering out towards the gates. "We don't have much time."

"Time for what?" Roberto asked in bewilderment.

Carole turned to him, her eyes brimming with tears. "The story I told you all about how I got here is only half-true. My aunt kicked me out a year ago and … I wasn't on the streets …" She took a deep breath. "I was with Magneto … I came here when he teamed up with the Marauders …"

"Magneto teamed up with the Marauders?" Roberto repeated, moving to her side. He could see Magneto now, outside the gates with his new Acolytes. "That's not …" He broke off, staring in horror as the gates opened to allow them access. "Why haven't the alarms gone off?"

"He's disabled them." Carole answered, almost calmly now.

"How?" Roberto demanded. "The security's too good! He'd need the security code and the only people who know that are …" He trailed off, a horrible thought striking him. "That message … it was from him, wasn't it?"

Carole nodded, avoiding his gaze.

"You …" Roberto's head was spinning. "You didn't … Carole?"

Carole swallowed hard. "I'm so sorry."

* * *

**AN: I know, I know! I got incredibly distracted by Harry Potter and I apologise for the ridiculously long wait, but I still couldn't get Lorna's return to the mansion right in my head (still haven't actually - I don't like that bit). Just be aware that you may be in for another one *ducks* although reviews do tend to speed up the process! (Hint, hint)**


	11. Chapter 10: Fight

**Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution.**

* * *

Chapter Ten – Fight

**January 2000**

It had to be a bad dream.

Roberto squeezed his eyes tightly shut. When he opened them again, he was hoping to find himself in bed, with only his racing heart to remind him of this nightmare.

But all he saw was Carole's room, her downcast gaze, and the pain in his chest increased tenfold.

He stumbled back a few steps almost automatically. "No … You didn't?"

"I wasn't trying to!" Carole cried, tears springing to her eyes. "I didn't … it was an accident!"

"How can you accidentally hand Magneto the security codes?" Roberto demanded, his mind slowly realising the truth of the situation. "How could you do this, Carole? I … I thought that …"

"I'm sorry …" Carole sobbed. "I lo …"

"Save it!" Roberto snapped. "You've played with my head; don't you dare bring my heart into this!" He spun on his heel and sprinted from her room, pulling the alarm in the hallway.

The blaring noise echoed through the mansion with instant results. Drinks fell to the floor, video games were abandoned, uniforms were donned in record time and, within seconds, the X-Men had assembled in the Entrance Hall, in nothing short of a panic.

The younger babies were screaming – even Liam – terrified by the chaos around them. Lorelai, Monica and Joey clung to their mothers, tears in their eyes as they tried to figure out just why everyone was so scared.

Scott was trying to make himself heard above the noise and Kitty, trying to soothe Liam, took pity on him and whistled sharply, startling her son into silence. "All yours, Cyke." Immediately, she went back to cooing to her son now she had his attention, which thankfully settled him somewhat, even though Cindy and Eloise were still crying.

"Thank you, Shadowcat. Okay, X-Men, as you've probably realised, Magneto has broken through the outer-perimeters and we have mere minutes before they reach us. We don't have time to think of a plan and, since Professor X, Storm, Beast and Wolverine are in Scotland, we will stay as one unit. Amanda, Bella, stay down in the infirmary, we'll keep them away. Rogue, am I right in thinking you're having a power-surge at the moment, or is this just laundry day?"

Anna looked down at her old all-in-one bodysuit. The new year had also brought new uniforms and all the X-women wore something similar to Polaris, Psylocke and X-23.

"Power surge." Anna answered calmly. Unlike the others, she had been ready for hers. With the amount of people in her head, it was only a matter of time before it happened again. "It's nowhere near as bad as the last one though. I just can't control it and I've got access to everyone's powers temporarily."

"Okay, you'd better stay then." Scott decided. "Jean, Jubilee, Magma, take the children …"

"Scott!" Jean protested.

"Jean, we don't have time for this." Scott told her softly. "The twins are scared; it'll be easier to get them to go with you. We don't have time to coax them into it." He squeezed her hand as she nodded reluctantly. "Shadowcat, Avalanche, you need to make a decision."

"I'll go." Lance stated, causing Kitty to turn to him, about to protest. "No, Kitten, you're needed here. If something happens to Cyclops or Nightcrawler, they'll need you."

Kitty grimaced, but she knew he was right. She kissed Liam's forehead and handed him to his father, who pulled her into a kiss himself.

"Be careful." Lance whispered.

"I always am." Kitty watched him take Lorelai's hand and coax her away from her parents. He led the three mothers to the escape hatch and saw them through, before lifting Lorelai and Illyana through ahead of him.

"What about Carole?" Roberto asked in a tight voice. He had filled Jean in, who had broadcast an explanation to the rest of the team.

Scott glanced up towards her room. "We hope she's on our side. X-Men, positions – X-Factor, up front here. Iceman, Havoc, assemble your teams."

Shadowcat took her place between Rogue and Nightcrawler, taking their hands and feeling others rest on her shoulders, her heart thudding in her chest.

Magneto, she knew, they could handle.

But the Marauders as well?

She couldn't believe Magneto would bring lackeys – whose loyalty to him was probably shaky at best – who had been known to kill to a place where his children were living.

She didn't have time to question it though; the front doors blew inwards, shattering at the force of whatever had hit them.

No one flinched, trusting Kitty to allow the debris to pass harmlessly through them, allowing them to see their enemies clearly for the first time.

Cyclops' face was set, his emotions unreadable, as they broke contact. "Let's do this."

A wind started almost immediately, as a mini-tornado that could only have been Riptide appeared in the doorway, sending out a barrage of spikes, forcing Kitty to turn intangible so as not to get speared.

Never before had the X-Men faced a fight such as this.

Even the battle with Apocalypse had been calmer, since each team had only one opponent.

With no time to come up with a plan and opponents that would kill them as soon as look at them, this was pure chaos.

Kitty forced herself to tune out the sounds of the battle, focusing instead on the movements her enemy was making. It was something that Wolverine had drilled into the X-Men in the early days of training: one team-member getting hurt was bad; everyone else getting distracted by it made everything ten times worse.

After what seemed like an age, and without warning, Magneto and his new Acolytes retreated, leaving behind a hall full of dust, rubble and injured mutants.

Coughing, Kitty staggered to her feet, unsure of how long the fight had lasted, a little disbelieving that it had even finished.

A sharp pain shot through her leg as she shifted her weight and she bit back a scream, gritting her teeth as she gingerly felt around her ankle for any damage. After running a hand over the rest of her leg, she concluded that her ankle was either sprained or twisted and straightened up again.

Forcing herself to ignore her injured team-mates for the time being, she stumbled through the darkness over to where she knew one of the units for the main computer was hidden and rebooted the security system.

Breathing a sigh of relief as she heard it start up again, but cursing the fact that the lights stayed out, she turned her attention to her companions, automatically reaching out to her lover as she did.

_Lance? Lance, where are you?_

Before she had time to realise that her attempt was futile – neither was telepathic anymore after all – he had responded, his words rushed. _Mom's place. Illyana managed to shadow-walk us here. Are you alright, sweetheart?_

Kitty couldn't help smiling. _I'm fine, hun. Sprained ankle, I think, that's all. What I don't understand is how we're doing this._

There was a moment of silence in her head and she wondered for a minute if she hadn't just imagined his response in a moment of wishful thinking, then his voice said, _No idea. Do you want us back?_

_Stay where you are for now. _Kitty responded. _We'll figure this out later – I have to check on the others. I love you._

_Love you too._

Kitty ended the conversation and tried to contact Belladonna or Amanda, but to no avail. "How odd …" She murmured aloud.

Around her, the silhouettes of the other X-Men had begun rising, many of them groaning in pain and exhaustion.

"What was he playing at?" Pietro's voice demanded; she could see his outline helping Lexa to her feet. "They were winning! Why'd they retreat?"

Kitty raised an eyebrow. "You're complaining?"

"Well, no." Pietro conceded. "But it still doesn't make sense. What was the point of that?"

"Could be one of a few reasons." Lexa answered. "He could have realised that he doesn't have as much control over the Marauders as he thought. _Or _this was a demonstration – a warning that he's not playing games anymore. I'd wager the first one – I can't see him losing a good undercover agent on a warning." Her words elicited a few flinches from those around her at the reminder of Carole's betrayal but she ignored them. "Is the security back up?"

"Of course!" Kitty rolled her eyes, feeling a little insulted. "Come on, Lex; that was the first thing I did! And there is another reason why he'd retreat when he was winning."

Lexa nodded, looking grim. "If he already had what he came for." She held a hand out to someone lying at her feet. "Alright?"

"I think so." Paige's voice answered as Lexa pulled her to her feet. "Now what?"

"We find Cyclops." Kitty answered, her mind racing. "He should be …"

"SCOTT!"

Pietro squinted through the dust. "Is it dark in here or is it just me?"

"Power's out." Kitty peered up towards the ceiling. "Can't tell if it's the generator or the actual lights at the moment though." She raised her voice. "Havoc? Is that you?"

"Shadowcat, Scott's not moving!" Alex called, panic evident in his voice.

Cursing under her breath, Kitty led the others through the gloom to where she could see two people bent over something on the floor.

As she drew closer, she could see that the 'something' Alex and Lorna were examining was indeed their fallen leader, but the darkness left her unable to see any injuries. "Havoc, some light please."

"Sure." Alex created a solar beam and held it in his hand, illuminating the immediate area.

Straight away, Kitty could see dried blood on Scott's face, seemingly caused by a cut under his hair line, and quickly checked his pulse and breathing, feeling immensely relieved when both were steady, if a little slow. "He's just unconscious." She told them softly. "Right, what we need to do is …"

A hand suddenly landed on her shoulder and she jumped, a startled scream escaping her mouth. "Kurt! Don't _do_ that!"

"Sorry, Kitty." Kurt smiled sheepishly. "Didn't mean to frighten you."

Kitty rolled her eyes. "What now?"

"What do you mean?" Kurt asked blankly. "You expect me to know?"

Kitty sighed, resisting the urge to roll her eyes again. "Nightcrawler, Cyclops is unconscious and Jean is not here. You're third-in-command, aren't you? What now?"

Kurt hesitated for a second. "You take over. That's what."

"Nightcrawler, you know what you're doing, right?" Kitty checked.

Kurt nodded. "I'll follow your lead, Shadowcat."

"Alright." Kitty paused for a second to adjust to the almost tangible shift in authority. "Alright, everyone, listen up! Pyro, Polaris, can you do something about the light please?"

Lorna lifted a hand and some of the twisted metal from the floor rose to attach itself to the walls, forming temporary torches.

The rush of a flamethrower sounded somewhere to their right and a ball of flame flew to each one, allowing Kitty to survey the damage.

The staircase was covered in scorch-marks, parts of the banister had collapsed and in some places the steps had actually caved in.

Chunks of plaster had fallen from the ceiling, creating the dust cloud, through which the rest of the team could be seen, waiting patiently for their instructions.

Kitty cleared her throat. "The children are safe; Lance just let me know they're in Philadelphia with Sara."

"How?" Bobby asked, breathing heavily. "You're not telepathic anymore. You're sure it was him and not … I dunno, someone else?"

"I know my own boyfriend, Iceman." Kitty stated, trying not to sound too irritated. "But at least you listen to Wolverine. I don't know how I can still talk to him and, right now, I don't care. We've got at least one man down and we need to know who else. Iceman, Havoc, assemble your teams and make sure everyone is alright. I'll take X-Factor."

Bobby and Alex turned away, the silence broken by a low murmur of voices as the team-leaders checked on the others.

Knowing where Kurt was, Kitty focused her attention on the other two. "Spyke? Rogue?"

"Over here, Shadowcat!" Evan called from the top of a pile of rubble. "And Rogue's here too, but she's not moving."

Hiding a flinch, Kitty cast a glance over her shoulder to where Remy was talking to Bobby. He didn't seem to have heard, so she didn't draw his attention to it, hurrying over to where Evan was. "Be careful." She warned in a low voice. "She doesn't have control at the moment." Bending over Anna, she carefully repeated the same checks she'd performed on Scott. "She's just unconscious. Let's not move her just yet; she's practically in the recovery position already." She straightened up and raised her voice again. "Report."

"All present and accounted for." Bobby responded. "Aside from Magma and Jubilee, but they weren't here when we started."

Kitty nodded, feeling relief begin to spread through her. "Good. Havoc?"

"All here." Alex told her. "Except Avalanche and Carole."

Kitty had known Lance wasn't there, but Carole? She glanced up at the ceiling, as Scott had earlier. "Was she involved?"

"I saw her." Rahne offered, leaning heavily on Sam. "She was definitely fighting on our side."

Kitty frowned, even as Roberto visibly brightened. "Did anyone see the Marauders leave?"

"I did." Lexa answered. "She wasn't with them."

If it was anyone else, Kitty might have questioned their certainty, but Lexa's powers of observation were second to none. "Okay. Nightcrawler, teleport Rogue to the infirmary – she's fine, just unconscious," she added as an aside to Remy, "then come back for Cyclops. Oh, and make sure you tell Bella and Amanda …"

"About the power surge." Kurt finished with a nod. "Got it."

As he and Anna disappeared, Evan's voice rose above the others. "She's here! Carole, I mean!"

Kitty spun around sharply and hurried back over, to see that Carole had indeed been part-buried in the wreckage – Anna had landed on top of her in such a way that no one had noticed her before.

"Carole?" Kitty called, pressing two fingers against the pulse-point in her neck. It was steady, but very, very slow.

"What's wrong with her?" Roberto asked, climbing up the pile of wreckage to kneel beside her – the rubble shifted dangerously beneath them but didn't give way.

Kitty glanced up at Evan, who nodded and clambered down so the mound wasn't supporting anymore weight than it had to. "I don't know." She admitted, glancing at Roberto. "But …" She trailed off as a horrible thought struck her suddenly – as horrible thoughts often do.

The sound of Kurt returning spurred her into action. "Nightcrawler! Was Rogue's uniform in tact?"

"Er, yes." Kurt answered, sounding bemused. "I think there might have been a small tear, but that was it."

"With no control, that's all it would've taken." Kitty murmured, more to herself, but it was loud enough for Roberto to hear her.

"You think Rogue managed to drain her?" He asked in alarm.

"I think it's a possibility." Kitty admitted, eyeing Carole's uniform; like the rest of the girls, her arms and midriff were bare. "But we won't know until one of them wakes up." She stood up carefully, accepting Evan's help down to the ground. "Nightcrawler, can you take Carole to the infirmary as well, please, and then go and fetch the others from Philadelphia."

"How did they get there?" Piotr asked, startling Kitty slightly – he was a very quiet man and very rarely spoke.

"Lance said that Illyana shadow-walked them." Kitty answered. "I'm going to try and get the lights back on; Berserker, I might need a boost. Everyone else, start getting this rubble cleared up."

Even as she returned to the computer and began typing in commands, she couldn't help thinking about Pietro's question and Lexa's answer.

What had Magneto been here for?

And had he, in fact, managed it?

"On second thoughts, Lexa," Kitty called over her shoulder, "can you go and check on Cerebro please?" She paid little attention to neither Lexa's departure nor the sharp intake of breath from most of her team-mates as they caught on to what she was implying. "That's odd."

"What is?" Ray asked from beside her.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry, I was thinking aloud." Kitty pointed at the screen. "I managed to get the security back up, no problem, but the power's out for everything else."

"The security system's on a different circuit." Ray told her. "If there's a power cut, that circuit gets picked up by the back-up generator first, because it's more important than light or heat."

"Right." Kitty sighed. "Means we have to go down to the mainframe then." She took his arm and phased them down through the floor, landing just in front of Lexa, who took a quick step backwards to avoid being crushed.

"Don't do that!" Lexa chided. "Cerebro hasn't been touched, Kitty; no one's entered and nothing's been taken."

"Huh." Kitty frowned. "There's my theory out the window."

"Could anyone download the files or something from anywhere else?" Roberto asked.

Lexa shook her head. "No, it has to be from in there. It crossed my mind, Kit, but that wasn't it. Power out?"

"All but the back-up generator." Kitty confirmed. "So we need to …"

"Shadowcat?" Kurt interrupted from behind them.

They all turned to see him sticking his head out of the infirmary door.

"You were right." He told her grimly. "Rogue did drain Carole."

Kitty groaned. "Oh, that's _all_ we need! Lexa, Berserker, go and deal with the power." She jogged down the hall, following Kurt into the infirmary.

Scott was still unconscious and Belladonna was bending over him – doing what, Kitty couldn't see at the moment. Carole was lying lifeless in another cot, hooked up to a machine that beeped steadily, but still far too slowly for her liking.

Anna also looked unconscious, but a trained eye could tell otherwise and Kitty hurried to her side, taking a gloved hand in hers. "Honey, can you open your eyes for me?"

Anna's eyes fluttered open and searched the room, before resting on Kitty. "What happened?" She asked hoarsely, her emerald orbs filled with uncharacteristic fear.

Kitty frowned slightly. If Anna didn't remember, then why was Kurt so certain about what had happened. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Anna frowned as well, clearly thinking hard. "I don't." She whispered. "I don't remember anything."

Kitty's eyes widened of their own accord and she willed herself not to panic. _Probably amnesia. Happens sometimes after she absorbs a lot of someone. She gets confused – start with the basics. _"What's your name? Do you remember your name?"

Anna nodded slowly. "Carole Susan Danvers."

Kitty's legs shook. "Oh crap." She felt Kurt grasp her arm and lead her away from Anna/Carole. "That's not good."

"It's happened before." Kurt reminded her. "She'll be fine."

"It's not Anna I'm worried about." Kitty sighed. "The only other time she walked away from an absorption thinking she was that person was the day her powers appeared. That was five and a half years ago and that kid's still in a coma. And Anna held on longer this time."

Kurt turned towards the other bed. "So what's gonna happen to Carole?"

Kitty swallowed hard. "I have absolutely no idea."

* * *

**AN: Review please!**


	12. Chapter 11: From the Ashes

**Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution.**

**Sorry! Uploaded the wrong document! *headdesk*  
**

* * *

Chapter Eleven – From the Ashes

**January 2000**

"What do we do?" Kurt hissed.

"I don't know." Kitty admitted, her gaze flitting to Scott. _Please wake up. _"Erm … you start by going to get the others back."

"Right." Kurt disappeared with a bamf and a cloud of foul-smelling smoke.

Kitty waved it out of her face and tried to figure out what to do as she made her way back to Anna/Carole.

"What happened?" Anna/Carole asked shakily.

"Well, it's a long story …" Kitty began slowly. _What do I do?_

"What happened, Kitty?" Jean asked from the doorway. Her eyes swept over the room, resting on Scott, but the sheer panic on Kitty's face seemed to deter her from running straight to her husband's side.

"Jean, thank God you're back!" Kitty hurried to her side, explaining the situation in an undertone.

"Oh damn …" Jean muttered, shaking her head. "I'll handle it, Kitty; you … Have you had that ankle checked yet?"

Kitty glanced down and flinched at the size to which her ankle had swollen. As she remembered it, the pain came back as well. "Not yet. To be honest, I'd forgotten about it."

"Come here, sugar; we'll get an ice-pack on that." Belladonna took her hand and led her over to one of the empty beds.

"You know," Kitty commented as she carefully pulled her shoe off, "I have a tremendous amount of respect for you."

"Why's that?" Belladonna asked, rooting in a nearby cupboard.

"Well, when I first got here, I was totally freaked out." Kitty elaborated. "And I actually _am _mutant. But you took everything in your stride. And I really don't know what we'd do without you."

"Aw, stop it; you're making me blush." Belladonna knelt in front of Kitty and pressed a finger against her ankle. "Does that hurt?"

"No." Kitty flinched as the woman's grip changed. "That does."

"Just a sprain." Belladonna concluded. "Probably fell awkwardly." She quickly wrapped a bandage around Kitty's ankle, tying an ice-pack against the afflicted area in the process. "There you go."

"Thanks." Kitty stood up and tested her weight. "Oh, that's better. Thanks."

"You're welcome, sugar." Belladonna responded with a smile.

"Jean?" Kitty called, turning her attention back to the original problem. "How's it going?"

"Well, we've got Anna back." Jean answered, with no shortage of relief. "But I don't know how long she'll keep Carole's powers?"

Kitty glanced over to where Anna was sleeping soundly. "And Carole? How long …?"

"I don't know." Jean admitted. "Could be weeks. Maybe months. If she even wakes up at all. Cody Robins is still in a coma after five and a half years, but then he's not mutant, so that could be an issue. I'm going to see if I can reach her telepathically; you go and sort the others out. Especially …"

"Roberto." Kitty finished with a nod. "I'll go and find him." She left the infirmary immediately, her mind preoccupied. She was so preoccupied that she ran right into someone, hearing an excited squeal as a hand gripped her shirt. A smile graced her face as she lifted her son out of his father's arms. "Hey sweetie!"

"You alright?" Lance murmured, kissing her softly.

"Sprained ankle." Kitty whispered. "I was right."

"Thank God." Lance kissed her again, first her lips, then her forehead. "Thank God."

Taking a deep breath, inhaling the scent of baby shampoo that seemed to hang around all babies but was particularly unique around her son, Kitty rested her head against Lance's chest as he held her and Liam close to him.

After a few seconds of closeness – and blocking the corridor – Lance exhaled slowly. "I was worried."

"I know." Kitty leaned back slightly. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

"I would never want to." Lance kissed her temple. "How's Roberto taking the whole 'Carole' thing."

"Badly, I should imagine." Kitty frowned. "I was just on my way to look for him. Take Liam?"

"Sure." Lance took their son back, tickling the boy gently. "I think I saw him heading upstairs."

"Thanks." Kitty took the nearest elevator straight up to the top floor, following her gut instinct.

Whenever anyone at the Institute was upset, it was a general rule that they went to the roof to think about things. So it was no great surprise that she found Roberto perched on one of the benches up there, staring out at the horizon.

Kitty approached him as silently as her namesake. "Robbie? You okay?"

For a few minutes, there was no response and she didn't push for one. She stopped behind him, standing perfectly still, the wind lifting her hair and playing with it lazily. She would not sit until he acknowledged her presence.

Eventually, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "What do you think?"

It was a rhetorical question and she didn't try to answer it, taking a seat next to him. He looked up at her, his face a palette of emotion, predominately hurt and pain, and she almost winced at the sight of it.

"I loved her."

The admission didn't surprise her, not now, and she'd actually been expecting it. But that didn't give her any more idea of what to say, settling for squeezing his hand comfortingly, silently prompting him to continue.

"I thought she loved me too." Roberto whispered in a broken voice. "I thought … She betrayed us … betrayed me …"

Kitty sighed heavily, unable to keep quiet any longer. "Look, I thought something was off about her from the beginning, Robbie – I went in suspicious and I still would _never_ have believed this … even with my telepathy I would never have guessed …"

"She said …" Roberto closed his eyes, swallowing hard. "She said it was an accident."

"Well, let's wait until Anna wakes up." Kitty suggested awkwardly. In truth, she couldn't see how Carole could have 'accidentally' betrayed them, but she was reluctant to voice this belief right now. "She's got Carole in her head now – maybe she can throw some light on the subject."

"Oh, what does it matter." Roberto sighed dejectedly. "Either Carole stabbed us in the back or she's stuck in a coma for no reason. It's a lose-lose situation."

"No!" Kitty knelt in front of him, taking his hands and forcing his attention on her. "No, it's not. Maybe there's something we didn't know. Maybe she didn't betray us intentionally." She ignored the sceptical scoff at the back of her mind. "And we can wake people out of comas, Rob; the medical profession makes advances every day."

Roberto searched her eyes for a minute, before sighing and looking away. "Did I ever tell you about Juliana?"

Feeling her ankle begin to protest, Kitty returned to her seat on the bench, searching her memories of any mention of the name. "No, I don't think so. Who is she?"

"She was my best friend." Roberto answered, his eyes glazed over slightly. "Back home, I mean. We'd been best friends since we were in kindergarten, but …"

"You started having feelings for her." Kitty finished.

Roberto nodded. "I don't know if I was in love with her … or just in love with the idea of being in love with her … I don't know. When I found out I was mutant, she was the only person I told. I thought she'd stick by me."

"But she didn't." Kitty concluded in a quiet voice. She was suddenly thrown back to a cold day six years previously, when Lance had taken her to a secluded spot in Northbrook Park, and very nervously told her that he could make earthquakes.

_But I'd only known him for a year and a half and I didn't freak out. This girl had known Robbie for ten years …_

"She freaked out and ran away." Roberto told her shakily. "Didn't talk me for a week and then transferred to a different school. She didn't tell anyone though – out of respect to our friendship."

_Some friendship,_ Kitty thought, but didn't say it aloud. "Come here, hon." She pulled him into her arms, holding him tightly.

How long they sat there, neither of them knew, but the X-Men were a family and all other things could wait – her brother needed her help.

"I love her." Roberto repeated into her shoulder. "More than Julie. I didn't know love was supposed to hurt this much."

"It does." Kitty whispered, rubbing his back. "It hurts _so_ much. But it's worth it in the end, Robbie. It really is worth it in the end."

"Hey!"

Kitty glanced up to see Jean standing beside the hatch that led back inside, her expression unreadable. She released Roberto and stood up, lifting a hand to her eyes to shield the bright sunlight that threatened her vision. "Jean?"

Jean approached them slowly, putting a gentle hand on Roberto's shoulder. "You okay?"

"Been better." Roberto answered, attempting a smile.

"Yeah, I bet." Jean said, squeezing his shoulder sympathetically. "Anna's awake and has access to all of Carole's memories. She knows what happened."

"And?" Kitty prompted when Jean didn't continue immediately. "What did happen?"

Jean sighed. "Well, she ran into Magneto when she left her aunt's and took his offer to help her with her powers. Mastermind helped her with her telepathy – that's how her shields were so good."

Kitty groaned, knowing instinctively what had happened. "Oh, dammit!"

"What?" Roberto asked, confused.

Jean sighed again, sitting on his other side. "You see, Robbie, leaning to control telepathy takes time, patience and discipline."

"Especially discipline." Kitty put in.

Jean nodded in agreement. "It's like setting up a computer program and only you have all the passwords to get in."

"Thing is, when you have someone helping you, they have all the passwords too." Kitty continued flawlessly. "I doubt Carole even realised he'd been in her head until it was too late."

"Wait." Roberto held up a hand. "Are you saying that Mastermind read her mind for the security codes and she wasn't betraying us?"

"Yes and no." Jean grimaced.

Kitty rolled her eyes. "Thanks. You were a big help. She did betray us?"

"No." Jean assured them. "But she was going to."

"You've lost me." Kitty admitted.

"Me too." Roberto seconded.

Jean sighed a third time and beckoned them towards the hatch. "Come on."

Exchanging a curious glance, Roberto and Kitty followed her back inside and down to the infirmary. Scott was awake now, talking with Anna in a low voice, but Carole still lay unconscious in her hospital bed.

As if drawn by some unseen force, Roberto left Kitty's side and approached her, falling into the vacant chair beside the bed. He reached out and took her hand, but there was no response – no squeeze of her fingers, no movement on her face, not even a flicker beneath her closed eyelids.

A solitary tear made its way down his face, but he made no effort to wipe it away.

Kitty moved as though to comfort him, but Jean stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, nodding at Anna, who had broken her conversation with Scott and was watching Roberto, her green eyes awash with sympathy. "She loved you."

Though quiet, the unexpected statement caused Roberto to break his gaze away from Carole. "Pardon?"

Anna smiled and tapped her head. "All her thoughts, all her memories, all her feelings … they're in my head now. And if she was awake, she'd be telling you this, but she's not. Magneto sent Carole here to gain our trust and pass the security codes to Mastermind as soon as she had. But then she met you and Lorna. Lorna mentioned some things about Magsy that Carole didn't know and didn't like. So she decided to wait, and then she got to know you better."

She paused, rubbing her head with a grimace. "Sorry, she's getting rather loud. By Christmas, she knew she couldn't go through with it. She felt like part of the family and you two were dating and … yes, thank you, Carole; I don't need the details! Where was I?"

"You two were dating." Kitty reminded her, hiding an amused smile.

"Thank you." Anna rolled her eyes. "Although it was a rhetorical question." She sighed. "The problem is, because Mastermind was the one who helped her create her shields …"

"He could get in through a back door." Kitty finished quietly. "Damn it, Carole – why didn't you tell anyone?"

"And you're absolutely sure she's not playing you?" Scott questioned cautiously.

"Absolutely." Anna assured her. "She can't lie to me. Not like this." She turned back to Roberto, who was still watching her, desperate for something, anything, any sliver of comfort Anna could offer him. "But she did love you, Robbie. She does love you. More than anything."

Now Kitty rushed forwards, embracing him again as he dissolved into sobs, weeping for the girl who might never wake.

* * *

**April 2000**

"Anna, hold still!"

Lexa couldn't help sniggering. She was sprawled on the couch, supposedly reading a book, but she had long since abandoned it in favour of watching Anna suffer. They both hated shopping for clothes, so for Kitty to get Anna to try on as many dresses as she had to find the perfect bridal gown two weeks ago had been an achievement in itself.

Getting her to model it so Kitty could alter it was something entirely different.

"Shut up, you." Anna growled at her reflection as her maid of honour stuck yet another pin in her. "You're next!"

"Not until January." Lexa reminded her cheerfully.

"Yeah, well I'm not until August." Anna shot back. "And look where that got me. Ow! Kitty!"

Lexa sniggered again and was about to comment, when a soft tug on her sleeve drew her attention down to Lorelai, who was standing beside her with a piece of paper in hand. "Auntie Lexa, picture!"

Lexa took the picture with a smile. "Thank you, Lorie; it's lovely! Who's that?"

"That's you!" Lexa answered predictably – the small stick figure had brown hair and claws.

_Bless her heart._ Lexa gave the girl a one-armed hug. "And who's that next to me?"

"Uncle 'Tro!" Lorelai giggled, knowing that Lexa knew very well who was in the picture.

When the children began speaking, it had become very apparent, to Pietro's annoyance, that none of them could yet pronounce his name, so he was 'Uncle Tro' for the moment.

"Well, it's a beautiful picture." Lexa told her with a smile. "It looks like we're outside – we're standing on lots of green grass with lots of pretty flours under a lovely yellow sun and … What's that there, Lorie?"

"Stars." Lorelai told her proudly.

"Honey, you know the sun and the stars don't come out at the same time." Lexa reminded her gently.

"I know." Lorelai giggled. "Babies."

"Babies?" Lexa repeated.

"We were looking at pictures the other day and Lorelai asked where she was in the ones taken before she was born." Anna explained without turning around. "Remy told her she was a star."

Lexa nodded, understanding at once. "It's lovely, Lorelai. Thank you."

At the sudden tremor in her voice, Anna glanced over, earning another chide from Kitty. "Lorie, go and find Daddy please; do him a picture too."

"Kay." The little girl trotted out of the room, leaving the three women alone.

"You really need to stay still," Kitty was saying, "or I'm gonna end up …"

"Kitty," Anna interrupted quietly, nodding towards Lexa.

Kitty glanced over as well and straightened up. "Well, I think that's enough for today."

"Finally." Anna muttered, stalking towards the bathroom to change.

Kitty dropped the needle and pins she'd been using back in her sewing box and sat down next to Lexa. "You okay, hun?"

"Yeah." Lexa whispered, setting the picture to one side. "I'm fine?"

"You sure?" Kitty asked. "Because you don't sound fine." She glanced at the picture. "Are you and Pietro planning on having children?"

Lexa winced, having been hoping that Kitty hadn't picked up on Lorelai's words, or at least Anna's translation.

"Lex?" Kitty prompted gently.

Lexa sighed heavily. "Oh, Kitty, I'd love to have children. I never thought I would, but … I don't know … maybe it's all the kids around here …"

"Does Pietro not want children?" Kitty asked, sounding bewildered.

Lexa gave her a sad smile. "No, he'd love children as well. And you've seen him with the kids – he'd be a wonderful father." She got up and wandered over to the window, gazing out over the grounds at the spring day outside. "I can't."

"Lex, my mom was told she couldn't get pregnant …" Kitty began.

"It's not that." Lexa told her in a low voice. "I know that miracles can happen like that, but … even if I do get pregnant, I won't _stay_ pregnant … my powers … I'd miscarry within a week."

Soft footsteps sounded behind her, but Lexa didn't turn around, even when Kitty hugged her tightly. "Does he know?"

"No." Lexa admitted. "Well, he knows I can't have children, but I haven't …"

"Why not?" Kitty questioned. "Lex, you're getting married in January. Miscarrying isn't that uncommon and …"

"But it's not really miscarrying, is it?" Lexa interrupted. "I know you all say that what happened with HYDRA didn't turn me into a weapon, but it did make me less of a human. My body would murder my own baby!"

"Oh, honey …" Kitty turned her round so she could hug her properly, as Lexa began to shake with the tears she refused to let fall. Another set of arms wrapped around her, signalling Anna's emergence from the bathroom.

The three girls stood in a comforting embrace for several minutes, until someone knocked on the open door.

"Everything okay?" Jean asked, sounding concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Lexa assured her, wiping her eyes hurriedly. "Just … one of those days, you know."

It was a shaky excuse at best – Lexa _never_cried, let alone over 'one of those days', but if Jean found it suspicious, she said nothing. "Well, I've figured it out."

"That's great." Anna commented.

"Congratulations." Kitty offered.

"Am I the only one who doesn't know what she's supposed to have figured out?" Lexa asked.

"No." Kitty replied, as Anna shook her head. "I've got no idea either. What were you trying to figure out, Jean?"

Jean rolled her eyes. "The power surges. You know, the fact that Lance, Kitty and I all had power surges in such close proximity and at the same time as the surges around the Sphinx."

"Coincidence." Lexa dismissed. "Right?"

Kitty gave her an odd look. "Lex, have you ever known _anything_ round here to be a coincidence?"

"No." Lexa conceded. "So what was it?"

"Not 'what'." Jean smirked triumphantly. "'Who'. The Hellfire Club."

* * *

**AN: First of all, having looked up the Hellfire Club, as far as I can tell, the Inner Circle changes quite a bit. So, for the purpose of this story, the White Queen is Emma Frost and the White King is Sebastian Shaw (I think that he's the Black King in some incarnations, or possibly most, I never did quite understand it). But he's the White King for this story.**

**Second of all, I apologise for the long wait and, to make up for it, I have a new oneshot from this AU on my profile entitled 'Never Again', in which Lance talks to Liam after waking up from the coma.**


	13. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution.**

**IMPORTANT NOTE: I do not read the X-Men comics. I have borrowed a few names and that's it. I do not know if this is the history behind the Hellfire Club (I doubt it), nor do I particularly care how accurate it is. That's why it's an AU, people. It fits for my purposes.**

**ALSO! Shameless plugging: My new Lancitty story, Shades of Grey, completely unrelated to this series, is now posted. There is also a not-so-new oneshot called Never Again, which features Lance and Liam after he wakes up out of the coma. According to , 200 people have read it, but no one's reviewed it, so please, please just drop me a note over there!**

* * *

Chapter Twelve

**April 2000**

Jean's revelation didn't have quite the effect she was hoping for.

The other three women stared at each other for a few minutes, before Kitty finally took the initiative. "Who?"

Jean sighed. "The Hellfire Club." She repeated.

Lexa rolled her eyes. "I think when Kitty said 'who', she meant 'we don't know who that is'. Believe it or not, Jeannie, just repeating it isn't going to suddenly make us understand."

Jean pulled a face at her. "If you'd let me finish. It's a really elite social club, spread all over the world."

"Social club?" Anna repeated. "As in expensive suits, ridiculously overpriced dresses and gatherings where not having a title makes you scum? First of all, why would they care? Second of all, how did they do it?"

Jean took a deep breath. "Let me start with a history lesson. The Hellfire Club originated in England over a thousand years ago. Although it existed before, according to legend, its current form actually started after the fight between King Arthur and his half-sister Morgan Le Fey."

"Wait a second, Jean," Kitty frowned, "that's just a myth, everyone knows that."

Jean shrugged. "Like I said, that's just what the legend says. It was around before then, but the story goes that the 'Inner Circle', or the people who ran the club, split into two factions: the Black side, which supported Arthur, and the White side, which supported Morgana."

"Black and White?" Lexa questioned.

Jean nodded. "The Inner Circle comprised of the King, Queen, two knights, two clergymen and two advisors. Originally, of course, that was Arthur, Guinevere and six others …"

"So the Hellfire Club was the Royal court then." Kitty concluded. "If that was a true story, which it _isn't_ because Arthur and Camelot never existed."

Jean rolled her eyes, but Anna stopped a retort before it could begin. "Hang on. King, queen, knights, clergy and advisors … It's like a chess game. That's where the Black and White factions come from."

Jean nodded. "Exactly. The Black side has continued through inheritance."

"So the Black Queen is the current queen of England?" Lexa asked.

"No, because Arthur wasn't _actually_ the king of England." Kitty answered. "Even if he _did_ exist, that was a time when England wasn't united under one monarchy. He allegedly ruled Camelot, which English historians say was probably in the mid-south of the country. His descendants would have lost any claim around the time of Alfred the Great."

Lexa sighed. "It's all very complicated."

Kitty smiled. "I've got a copy of King Arthur somewhere you can borrow. Go on, Jean. What about the White side?"

"Well, that _should_ pass down through inheritance as well …" Jean began.

"But given that it was supposedly in support of Morgan Le Fey, I doubt they put too much emphasis on inheritance." Anna finished.

Jean chuckled. "Exactly. It's more a 'survival of the fittest' thing."

Kitty sighed. "Okay, how is this relevant _now_? Even if all that stuff about Arthur _is_ true, and I find it _incredibly_hard to believe, his descendants would have lost any connection to the Royals centuries ago."

"Obviously, nowadays, the Inner Circle has no bearings on the Royal court." Jean conceded. "However, what they _do_ have are the ears of their _very_ important clients. Anyone who's anyone is a member of the Hellfire Club, even if just officially, including most of the world leaders."

Lexa sank onto the couch, rubbing her temples. "Okay, Jean. None of this explains why or how they were behind those power surges. Just that it's probably the _White_side that's behind it."

"Well, like I said, the Inner Circle has a great deal of political clout." Jean explained patiently. "Unfortunately for them, so do we."

Anna frowned. "What? No we don't."

Jean shrugged. "We're starting to. We took a call from the USMC the other day, asking if they could run some of their Special Ops teams through the Danger Room."

"Well, we have the technology." Kitty commented.

"We can rebuild him." Jean finished in a sombre voice.

"That would be interesting." Lexa remarked.

Jean groaned. "Oh, God." She turned to Kitty and Anna. "We do not let her anywhere near Wolverine until they've both got the Marine out of their systems. With back-up, our training sessions may just go overboard."

"Okay, so we're starting to get more political clout." Lexa said, chuckling at the twin looks of horror her comment had evoked. "Why would the Inner Circle care?"

"Politics." A new voice concluded from the door, making them all jump. "Sorry," Amara smiled apologetically, pushing the living room door closed. "I couldn't help overhearing. It seems like this 'Inner Circle' likes the status quo the way it is, where they can influence world events to their own agenda, whatever that may be."

"So that's _why_ they were behind all the power surges." Kitty concluded, effectively filling Amara in at the same time. "How?"

"Well, I'm still working on the Black side." Jean admitted. "But like Lexa said, it's unlikely to be them. History has shown that they're not quite as …"

"Evil?" Anna suggested.

"Vocal." Jean corrected. "Most of the White side is in the wind but the 'King' and 'Queen' are, I believe, Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost, both of whom are mutant."

Lexa frowned. "Sebastian Shaw … I know that name …"

"HYDRA?" Anna asked.

Lexa shook her head. "No … I think Pietro mentioned it in passing. Hang on, Jean, if the White side succeed through usurping each other and the Black side succeed through inheritance, wouldn't it be easier to track inheritance?"

"It would." Jean agreed. "Except mutants automatically succeed."

"Then how haven't mutants been exposed before now?" Kitty asked.

"Because the only people who know about the true nature of the Inner Circle are those within it." Jean explained. "The social club, nowadays, is just a front."

"First rule of Fight Club …" Anna murmured. "What are their powers?"

"Shaw's telekinetic." Jean answered. "With quite a lot on the side, but it doesn't really matter in this case. Emma Frost is a telepath to rival Mastermind and Mesmero."

"Both of them?" Anna winced. "That's illusions _and_ mind-control."

"And enough power to prompt our power surges without even being near us." Kitty finished quietly. "Why Lance? I mean," she continued, when she received four blank looks in response, "Jean, I can understand. You're one of our public faces; I can see why she'd want you out the way. I had a ridiculous amount of power back then. But why Lance?"

"Leader of the Brotherhood?" Lexa suggested, but even as she said it she was shaking her head. "No, that wouldn't be enough."

"Difficult to manipulate?" Anna asked. "He was the only non-telepath that stayed on their feet when Kitty had hers."

"But that might have had something to do with the fact that it was me." Kitty pointed out, smiling as a gentle waft of love floated into her head, like a kiss blown on the breeze.

"Maybe …" Jean trailed off. "Oh my God, Anna, is that your dress?"

Anna followed her gaze to the dress hanging from the bathroom door and rolled her eyes. "No, it's Lorelai's new security blanket. Of course it's my dress!"

"It's gorgeous!" Jean told her, ignoring the sarcasm. "I was wondering what you were going to do about it. I mean, no offence, but you're not exactly a dress person, are you?"

Anna snorted. "You got that right. I wasn't planning on going with cream at all, but Kitty made me try some on. And I'm glad she did."

"Yeah, I would be." Jean agreed. "If that was the result …"

"Hey!" Lexa interrupted. "As lovely as Anna's dress is, what are we going to do about the Hellfire Club?"

Jean sighed. "Unfortunately, Lexa, there's nothing we _can_ do about them, except keep a very, _very_ close eye on them. I don't know enough about them to be comfortable tipping our hand just yet."

"We could expose her." Lexa suggested. "There's probably loads of people she's manipulated using telepathy …"

"And then what happens to the rest of us?" Kitty asked dryly.

Lexa sighed. "Oh yeah."

Amara frowned. "Why though?"

"Well, humans have always feared what they …" Jean began.

"No, not that." Amara interrupted. "Why the sphinx? I assume you were talking about that power surge as well."

"We were." Jean confirmed. "I assume it was to lure us away from the mansion."

"To do what?" Amara asked pointedly. "Unless they broke in while we were away."

"They didn't." Lexa stated. "There was always at least one person here. There's no way they could get through the security without alerting us."

"If they could, they wouldn't have bothered." Kitty agreed. "It makes no sense …"

"Unless they messed up." Lexa suggested. "They may have meant Lance's power surge to be closer to yours and Jean's, but underestimated the strength of his powers …"

"And the effect of the headaches." Kitty finished quietly. "When they kick in, it's like a vicious circle. His powers make the headaches worse, but the headaches make controlling his powers harder."

Lexa nodded. "It hit him early, unluckily for them, because their plan would have worked if it didn't."

"But because Lance was in a coma, the Institute wasn't empty." Jean concluded, before frowning. "So why not just attack. That kind of telepathic power would have been no match for just the three of you."

"Unless …" Amara said tentatively. "Unless this woman isn't the devil incarnate and didn't want to attack a pregnant woman or a new-born."

The other three exchanged a glance. Whilst it would be nice if that were the reason, that would mean that Emma Frost had a conscience, which would be extremely helpful. Unfortunately, it would also be a stroke of good luck, and none of the women felt comfortable enough to hope for that right now.

In silent agreement, though no telepathic exchange was made, the discussion was abandoned, though not forgotten, and Jean glanced around. "Where's Lorelai?"

"With Remy." Anna answered with a slight smile. "Drawing him a picture."

Jean chuckled. "Yeah, the twins just hit that phase. Something tells me we need to stock up on crayons."

"Hey, don't complain." Kitty told her. "If they're doing that, they're not levitating things out the window."

"Or blowing them up." Amara added.

"They're not that bad!" Jean protested, just to be met with four eye-rolls. "They'll get better."

"Didn't say they wouldn't, Jeannie." Lexa commented almost lazily, as she sank back onto the couch. If she was still worrying about the Hellfire Club, there was nothing to show it. "So how's the house-hunting going? Not that we want you to move out of course."

"Just the terror twins." Amara added jokingly.

"No, just Scott." Kitty corrected, only half joking.

Jean aimed a cushion at Amara, who ducked with a giggle. "That's my children you're talking about." She sighed heavily. "Honestly, it's going terribly. I know we wanted to move out, but we don't want to move _away_. There are no houses in Bayville, you know that? None! And we want a _house_, not an apartment, so the city's out, unless it's out of our price range. At this rate, we'll be moving to the other side of the city, maybe even to the other side of the state."

"Well …" Kitty said slowly. "I suppose Scott wouldn't be able to run four am Danger Room sessions anymore."

Despite herself, Jean chuckled. "Oh, very funny."

* * *

**May 2000**

The grounds of the Institute weren't small by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, even 'big' was an understatement.

So trying to find someone who didn't want to be found was never going to be easy.

Therefore, it was for this reason that Lance found himself standing outside the mansion, wondering where his girlfriend had disappeared to.

Liam, he knew, was with her, because he'd been woken from his morning nap by the phone ringing, and she had picked him up when she answered it.

Two hours later, they were nowhere to be seen.

Only the constant presence in his head kept him from worrying, but while it assured him that she was alright, it was duller than usual, as though something was blocking the bond between them.

No one could explain the telepathic connection between them, though it had persisted since January. Neither was telepathic and neither could communicate with anyone else.

Nothing had changed between them, however, which made him wonder if it had always been there, explaining how he could always predict what she was feeling and what she was thinking and vice versa.

His eyes scanned the edge of the woodland, but he didn't bother searching any deeper. There were some interesting things happening amidst those trees and he knew that, had Kitty been there, he'd know about it by now. Instead, he turned in the opposite direction towards the cliffs, mentally counting down the least likely places for Kitty to go if she was upset.

Then he stopped.

Kitty knew him better than he knew himself – if she wanted him to find her, she'd have answered when he called telepathically.

And, if she didn't want him to find her, she wouldn't go to the last place he'd expect, because she'd _know_ that was the first place he'd look.

Bypassing every location he'd just considered, Lance turned on his heel and went back inside, heading for the most likely place for her to go.

Sure enough, he found her on the roof, lying on her back on a blanket, holding Liam above her. She brought him down to her face to blow a raspberry on his stomach and he let out a delighted giggle as he rose up again.

As Lance approached, his son caught sight of him and his giggles increased, interspersed with a squeal of delight. Lance couldn't help the way his heart warmed at the sound of his son's laughter and he scooped him up as the boy held his arms out.

"How'd you find me?" Kitty asked softly, as Lance dropped onto the blanket beside her and settled Liam in his lap.

"I know you too well." Lance reminded her, tilting Liam back so he was almost upside down, making the boy shriek with laughter. "Anna's having another wedding panic and she needs her maid of honour. Why are you hiding?"

"It's my mother." Kitty sighed. "She wants to give me a Mercedes."

Lance waited. When she said nothing else, he rolled his eyes. "The nerve of that woman!" When the corners of her mouth tugged into a small smile, he knew that she realised the oddity of her statement, but she didn't laugh and his heart gave a lurch. "What?"

"It's a Mercedes if I move back home and pretend none of this ever happened." Kitty elaborated, her voice flat.

Lance knew that Kitty would never agree to something like that, but that didn't stop his heart freezing at the thought of losing her. "What about Liam? I mean, I know they've never liked _me_, but he's their grandson!"

"Well, they seem to have decided that Liam doesn't exist." Kitty wiped her eyes. "I know they can't _make_ me do anything, Lance, but they're trying to bribe me into abandoning my baby."

"Kitty …" Lance began, but his attention was diverted when Liam grabbed his arm and pulled, almost making it to his feet before falling on to his bottom with a bump, which sent the eight-month-old into hysterics.

Apparently, there was something very funny about falling over.

"Did he just try to stand up?" Kitty asked, sitting up, forgetting about her own problem momentarily.

"I don't know." Experimentally, Lance lifted Liam up and set him on his feet, pulling his hands away just far enough to balance on his own.

With a big smile, Liam toddled forwards a few steps and fell into Kitty's lap, rolling over to beam up at her.

"Liam, you clever boy!" Kitty laughed with her son, lifting him into the air and kissing his nose, and Lance took the opportunity to pull both of them into his arms. She leaned back into his chest, sighing deeply. "How can they expect me to give this up?"

Lance didn't answer, settling for pressing a kiss to her hair. He knew that Kitty's parents hadn't taken her mutation well, had long-since mapped out her life for her, and were unwilling to accommodate any changes to that. He also knew that they had suggested she come home before, but had assumed, perhaps naively that Liam's birth would have changed that. "Did she give you the 'you're not up to this' thing again?"

That, he knew, had been Melinda Pryde's argument during the calls before Liam's birth; that Kitty would never cope living 'on her own' and that she might want to consider returning to her parents.

Kitty nodded, pulling a face. "Actually, this time I got the extended disco version with three choruses of 'You'll never make it on your own'."

"Do you think she's serious?" Lance asked. "We could use a Mercedes."

Kitty tilted her head back, giving him an incredulous look. "What are you suggesting? That I move home, get the car, tell them where to shove it and drive back?" She paused. "That's actually not a bad idea."

"I was kidding, Kitten." Lance pulled her closer, resting his head on hers. "I want you both to stay right here."

"And we will." Kitty finished with certainty. "I just … they're my _parents_. And I know they've treated me like crap, and I know they've been hell to deal with, but they're still my parents. And they're Liam's grandparents. I can't believe they'd just write him off like that! Not once, not _once_ did she mention him!"

As tears began to cascade down her cheeks, Lance tightened his arms around her waist, trying to think of an appropriate response. Kitty rarely cried, not like this, and this was hardly the time for "There, there; it'll be alright".

In the end, though, their son beat him to it. Using her shirt as leverage, Liam pulled himself to his feet in Kitty's lap, blinking bewilderedly at her tears. "Mama?"

Kitty froze, her tears stopping. "Oh my God … Lance, did you hear that?"

"Mama?" Liam repeated, patting his mother's cheek. There was a definite wobble to his lower lip now, as he tried to figure out why Mommy was crying – surely that was his role in the proceedings.

"I did." Lance rubbed his son's back with his spare hand. "It's alright, Liam; Mommy's alright."

Kitty wiped her eyes and smiled shakily. "See? All better?"

Reassured, Liam let go of her shirt and fell back on to his bottom with a bump, falling into yet another set of giggles.

"Bit of a masochist, isn't he?" Lance commented, tickling his son's stomach, prolonging the current laughing fit.

Kitty giggled as well. "I suppose you have to be to do what we do. Ninety per cent of the bruises I get are thanks to the Danger Room."

"Are you alright?" Lance asked in a low voice.

"No." Kitty sighed. "But I will be."

Her need for a subject change was left unspoken, but Lance heard it anyway. "Your birthday's coming up."

A smile crossed her face. "It is. Not for another few months though."

"Yeah, but I missed last year." Lance reminded her softly.

Kitty tilted her head back to press a kiss to his cheek. "Not your fault, hon. You were in a coma, remember?"

"Not as well as you." Lance couldn't help the lump that formed in his throat at the reminder that she had given birth to their son without him. He was forever grateful to Pietro for being there for his family when he couldn't, but it still hurt. "Is there anything you want?" He had a feeling he knew what she was going to say though.

Kitty was quiet for a second, bouncing Liam in her lap. "No. No, I have everything I need right here."

_Now why doesn't that surprise me?_ Lance smiled to himself. He knew that a lot of their friends were expecting him to use the occasion to propose to her, and he'd be lying if he said the thought hadn't crossed his mind. Unfortunately for him, his girlfriend was incredibly intelligent and she would know what he was planning, probably even before he did.

No, to keep something like that a surprise, he would need to catch her off guard.

"I didn't ask that." He reminded her lightly. "I asked if there's anything you _want_."

Again, Kitty gave herself a moment to think. "Well … my parents to get over themselves would be nice."

"Alright." Lance conceded with a chuckle. "Anything I can get at the mall?"

Kitty laughed. "Don't worry; I'm not expecting miracles." She sighed. "Oh, I don't know. Surprise me."

"Easier said than done that." Lance muttered, making a mental note to wait until Kitty was well and truly distracted before making that decision. "Well, how does dinner sound? Just the two of us."

"Wonderful." Kitty commented with a soft sigh. "It's been so long since it was 'just the two of us'. Not that I'm complaining, of course." She added, dropping a kiss on her son's head.

"Me neither." Lance agreed, ruffling Liam's hair. "We can always get Jean to baby-sit."

"Or Lexa." Kitty added. "She's his godmother, after all. And she doesn't have to deal with Monica and Joey at the same time."

"True." Lance conceded. "That probably would make more sense." He wrapped a strand of her hair around his finger lightly, then let it drop. "Listen, Kitten, I know you want to be alone right now, but Anna's panicking about seating plans."

Kitty chuckled. "Never took her to be the type. How _did_ you find me, by the way?"

"Like I said, I know you too well." Lance repeated. "You came up here, because you knew that I'd go to the least likely places first, right?"

Kitty grimaced. "You _do_ know me too well."

Lance helped to her feet. "Like I said, I'd have left you to it if Anna …"

But Kitty was shaking her head, swinging Liam into her arms, making him giggle. "Even if I don't think I want to be found, I'm glad you know me well enough to find me."

* * *

**AN: Few notes: First of all, Camelot: I currently live in Winchester, in the UK, which is sort of just above Southampton, closer to South-West than South-East, but generally in the middle, just up from the coast. We're home to the Great Hall, which, in turn, is home to the round table, where Arthur sat with his knights. We, basically, are supposedly Camelot. We're also the medieval capital of England.**

**Second of all: virtual brownies for anyone who picked up the rather obscure sci-fi quote in this chapter.**

**Third of all: Review please!**


	14. Chapter 13

**AN: I am so sorry for how long this story has been on hiatus. Unfortunately, I can't promise that updates will come any faster after this. I'm having a disagreement with this story at the moment, because I'm not too fond of it and yet I can't shake my headcanon, so I'm playing around with this and All's Fair of Love and War to see what happens. I do have a vague idea that involves Generation X learning about the X-Men's history, but we'll see where things go.**

**In the meantime, enjoy! **

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

**July 2000**

For a warm summer's day, the grounds of the Institute were strangely quiet and deserted. A soft breeze ripped through the trees, sending hushed whispers through the air, the only noise on what should have been a very loud occasion.

Down by the lake, a single figure sat soaking up the warmth in a simple white sundress. Lucie Cartwright leaned back on her hands, letting the morning rays hit her face, one of the only people still at the Institute, since the majority of the mutants had either gone on vacation or to visit family.

She knew that Freddie had gone down to Texas to visit what was left of his family, that Lance and Kitty had taken Liam to Philadelphia and that Lexa had gone with Pietro and Wanda to visit their mother.

In a few days' time, Kitty's nineteenth and Rogue's twentieth birthdays would mark the anniversary of Lance's power surge and the beginning of their stay at the Institute.

It was odd, Lucie mused, how her team-mates had adjusted so well to staying with the X-Men, even joining them, if one were to put a label on it.

She and the other two girls weren't so much of a surprise; Tabby had been here once before, after all, and she and Wanda had missed most of the hostility.

But had there been hostility anymore?

Many of the jibes against the 'X-geeks' had been made out of jest more than malice; even, she had noticed, with a note of fondness.

"Lucie?"

Lucie's eyes flickered open and she smiled softly. "Todd. Why are you upside down?"

"I'm not." He answered. "I'm behind you."

Pushing herself upright, which took more effort than usual in the warm sun, Lucie turned around. "So you are. What's up?"

"It's too quiet." Todd pulled a face. "It's not natural."

Lucie giggled quietly. "You can say that again."

"It's too quiet." Todd complied. "It's not natural."

Lucie swatted his arm lightly. "It's an expression."

"What are you doing out here?" Todd asked. "It's not like you to look for quiet."

"You don't have to look for it today." Lucie sighed. "I got a letter from my parents this morning."

Todd winced sympathetically. "What'd they say?"

Lucie sighed again. "Well, to paraphrase, if I don't do something about my 'problem' or at least try to hide it, I will never find love and Mother will never have a chance to plan her only daughter's wedding."

"That's ridiculous!" Todd scoffed.

"I know!" Lucie agreed. "It's not my mutation that's the problem!"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Todd asked. "Luce, you don't have _any _problem."

Lucie smiled sadly. "You're my friend; you're supposed to say that." She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. "My mother's right; I'm never going to find someone."

"That's ridiculous!" Todd repeated. "Who wouldn't want you?"

"Most people." Lucie answered automatically.

"Alright." Todd stood up and offered her a hand. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Lucie asked, accepting his help to her feet.

"Manhattan." Todd answered firmly. "It's too nice a day for you to be this depressed. We are going to cheer you up?"

"You and what army?" Lucie asked, a smile already starting to form on her face.

"Who needs an army when you've got me?" Todd responded, making her giggle. "See? It's already working."

"Very well." Lucie laced her arm through his. "Lead on, good sir!"

"I haven't had this much fun in years!" Lucie proclaimed that evening from the top of the Empire State Building.

"Yo, I told you that I'd cheer you up." Todd reminded her, nudging her arm gently.

"Alright, you were right." Lucie conceded, leaning on the railing so she could look down at the lights of the city below them. She hesitated for a second, before blurting out, "Do you think I'm pretty?"

"Is the Pope a Catholic?" Todd asked. "C'mon, Luce; at least ask me a hard one! Ask me what Freddie had for breakfast last week – that should take a while."

Lucie didn't smile. "I'm serious." She muttered, staring out at New York City. "Do you think I'm pretty?"

"You're beautiful, Lucie." Todd told her matter-of-factly. "Any guy at the Institute could tell you that. Stop worrying about that letter – you're gonna be fine. I'm the one who's gonna have trouble."

"That's not true!" Lucie protested.

"Yeah, it is." Todd said, smiling weakly. "It's okay, Lucie – I've come to terms with it. My mutation doesn't help."

Lucie put a comforting hand on his arm. "You can hardly tell any more, Todd; it's not that bad. Besides, you're cute – what are you worrying about?"

Todd turned slightly pink, but before he could respond, a male voice interrupted them. "Lucinda!"

Lucie flinched, paling, but Todd just looked confused. "I thought you said your mother was the only one who called you that."

"She is." Lucie sighed. "Unless Justin's mad at me." Squaring her shoulders, she pushed away from the railing and turned around. "Yes, brother dear?"

Justin Cartwright was at least two heads taller than Lucie, and a lot more muscular. He seemed to loom over his sister, who didn't back down. "Where the hell have you been?! Mom and Dad have been worried sick!" He grasped her arm tightly. "You are going to be in so much trouble when we get …"

"I'm not going anywhere!" Lucie snapped, holding her ground. "They threw me off a ship, for God's sake! They know where I am – as long as I'm mutant, they don't want to know!"

"You're mutant?" Justin stopped trying to drag her away, but tightened his grip nonetheless. "Since when?!"

"Last December." Lucie answered, gritting her teeth. "Justin, you're hurting me!"

"I should have known." Justin muttered, finally releasing her arm, his eyes filled with so much disgust it hurt her to look into them. "You always were a little _freak_."

"Hey!" Todd snapped, stepping between them as Lucie stumbled backwards, tears filling her eyes. "You can't talk to her like that! It's not her fault you're such a bigot you can't accept your own flesh and blood!"

For a second, Lucie afraid for Todd's safety – her brother was a lot bigger than him, _and _in the Navy – but the few other people also present seemed to agree with Todd – there were a lot of nods and muttering going on around them.

And Justin's girlfriend – or, at the very least, the girl he was with – seemed to agree as well. Muttering about prejudiced gits, she spun on her heel and stalked away.

"Cassie, wait!" Justin called, forgetting about them in favour of racing after her.

As soon as he was out of sight, Lucie let out a choked sob, unable to stop the tears from falling much longer. Todd wrapped an arm around her shoulders, guiding her over to a bench, and she leaned into him, crying softly.

For a few minutes, they sat in silence, Lucie still shaking with tears, Todd stroking her hair soothingly.

Finally, she let out a sigh and wiped her eyes, though didn't pull away from him. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Todd looked down at the top of her head. "Are you alright?"

For a few minutes, Lucie didn't answer. She wasn't entirely sure if she was or not. She and Justin had always been close – she was his little sister and he was her big brother – he was the one who dried her tears when Olivia Cornwell had teased her at school, he was the one who let her crawl into bed with him when she got scared in lightning storms, he was the one … he was the one who was supposed to love her no matter what, even when her parents didn't.

Except he didn't.

"No." Lucie answered slowly, looking up at Todd. "But I will be." She added, grasping his hand and squeezing it. "Thanks for standing up for me."

"You're family, Luce." Todd reminded her, pulling her to her feet. "Anyone else would have done the same thing."

"Maybe." Lucie agreed. "But anyone else isn't here, are they? You are, and you did, and my God, you idiot, Justin could have squashed you!"

Todd waved away her concerns with an airy wave. "It's fine – toads ooze poison when they get squashed."

Lucie rolled her eyes. "That's not funny, Todd."

"Look, I wasn't going to let him talk about you like that." Todd said firmly, gazing out at the city. "I don't care how big he was or how strong he was. He made you cry, Lucie."

Lucie opened her mouth to argue, but she was interrupted by an elderly woman who made her way over. "Dear, I must say you handled that very well. And, if you don't mind me saying, that young man you were arguing with could have done with being turned over someone's knee." She smiled at Todd. "But your boyfriend was so brave – you're a lucky girl."

"I'm not …" Todd began.

"Thank you." Lucie said over him. "It's very kind of you to say so – it does feel very lonely sometimes."

The elderly woman patted her arm. "We're not all prejudiced bigots, dear. Have a lovely evening."

"Thank you." Lucie repeated. "You as well."

"Why didn't you correct her?" Todd asked, once she was out of earshot.

Lucie shrugged. "Old people like that are convinced they're right no matter what you say. Besides," she added with a smile, "I am a lucky girl." She leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

Todd turned slightly red. He couldn't deny that he was attracted to Lucie – far more so than he had ever been to Wanda – but he had never even imagined telling her that, unwilling to risk their friendship and his pride on what he knew would be a rejection.

But the adrenaline of dealing with her brother seemed to have shaken his filter, and before he could stop himself, he said, "I'd say I'm the lucky one."

"Why's that?" Lucie asked curiously.

_May as well go for broke_. "Well, I got to spend all day with you, didn't I?"

Lucie chuckled. "Flatterer."

"No, I mean it." Todd insisted. "You're amazing, Luce. You have this way of making people feel like more than they are."

"Stop it." Lucie mumbled, blushing. "I'm not that incredible."

"You are." Todd said seriously. "At least … you are to me."

His gaze met hers, but she said nothing, even as they seemed to draw closer, pulled by some invisible force towards each other until their lips met.

* * *

"Lance, where exactly are we going?"

Even as the question left her, Kitty knew that it was pointless. She had been asking Lance all day what he had planned, and he still hadn't told her.

She could have looked into his thoughts, of course, but where was the fun in that?

It was the evening of her nineteenth birthday and, as previously agreed, they had left Liam with his grandmother to give them an evening off.

To her surprise, however, they hadn't actually gone anywhere. Lance had led her out of the back door, through the gardens, and then over a fence into a field.

Sure enough, rather than answering, Lance just offered a hand to help her up an embankment. When they reached the top, she opened her mouth to ask the question again, but all that escaped was a startled gasp.

What she had assumed to be another field turned out to be the bank of a river, bathed orange in the evening sun. A weeping willow tree stood near the edge, its trailing leaves, rustling in the light breeze, just clearing the gently-flowing water, and in the dappled shade beneath it laid a picnic blanket and basket.

Lance smiled at her. "I was going to take you out to dinner, but I figured you'd appreciate this much more."

"You know me well." Kitty kissed him lightly. "I love it, thank you. So what have we got?"

"Just sandwiches, I'm afraid." Lance answered, retrieving a covered plate from the picnic basket. "Although Mom made these, and her sandwiches could probably be served in five-star hotels, so …"

"I don't know." Kitty said, settling between his legs and leaning back against his chest. "Your Aunt Samantha's take some beating."

"Who do you think taught her?" Lance asked in response, nuzzling her neck.

"Good point." Kitty accepted the sandwich he handed her, taking a careful bite to avoid losing half of the filling. "Mm, okay, you're right. This is the best I've ever eaten."

"I'm hurt you doubted me." Lance said jokingly.

"Oh for heaven's sake …" Kitty sighed, rolling her eyes.

The rest of the meal was filled with familiar banter, and before long, the food had been finished. The sun had begun to set, casting them in a warm orange glow, the first stars just beginning to glimmer in the slowly gathering darkness.

Any birdsong was slowly being replaced by the sound of silence, broken only by the gently flowing water and the occasional cricket.

"I know this," Lance said finally, gesturing to the blanket, "isn't much but …"

"It's perfect." Kitty said firmly, cutting him off. "Just what I wanted."

Lance shifted behind her and a small box was pressed into her hand. "Happy birthday."

"Lance …" Kitty whined, the smile on her face betraying her. "I told you not to get me anything."

"And you knew I wouldn't listen to you." Lance retorted, kissing her cheek.

Sighing in resignation, Kitty pulled off the paper and opened the box to find a silver locket. "Lance, it's beautiful."

"You said you had everything you needed." Lance said, fastening it around her neck and releasing the catch. The window opened to reveal a photograph of the two of them with Liam, taken by Jean a few weeks ago. "And there it is."

Kitty turned to straddle his lap, so she could kiss him properly without getting a crick in her neck. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, sweetheart." Lance rested his hands on her waist. "You like it."

"I love it." Kitty assured him with a smile, leaning in to kiss him again. She knew that many of their friends and family were expecting a proposal, but it didn't concern her that they hadn't been right; proposing on her birthday would be far too obvious, and he'd want to surprise her. She supposed any other woman in her position would have been wondering when it would happen, but she knew he was thinking about it – it had been obvious in the way he looked at her when she told him Anna had found a wedding dress.

It didn't take a genius or a telepath to realise that he had been picturing her in a wedding dress instead.

_It'll happen._ Kitty smiled to herself, shielding her thoughts from her lover, even as he pulled her closer. _It's practically inevitable. Besides, Mrs Katherine Alvers has a nice ring to it._


	15. Chapter 15

Hi guys,

Sorry this isn't a new chapter. I just wanted to let you know that I'm rewriting All's Fair in Love and War (Yeah, I know, again). It's a fic that's near and dear to my heart as one of the first fanfics I wrote, but I'm aware that it's not without it's problems. Even the current rewrite, I read through and cringe. So I'm approaching it from another angle. Truth Hurts is starts in the future, with the now-teenage members of Generation X beginning to ask questions about their parents. The story will remain much the same (but hopefully told better), relayed to them through flashbacks, and with any luck, this will satisfy my muse. I will keep working on Of Love and Life, unless of course I reach that part in Truth Hurts before my writer's block shifts (which I may well at this rate), and I won't delete All's Fair or Of Love and Life unless I have to.

Thank you so much for your continued support.

TitansRule


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